Thirty National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) search and rescue team members have passed out after a week’s training.The team comprised nine females and 21 males all drawn from the Greater Accra Regional office of NADMO.
Speaking at the ceremony, the National Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Kofi Portuphy, called on industries as a matter of urgency to install emergency equipment within their organisations.
When that was done, he said, it would help reduce the gravity of disasters the moment they occurred. He said emergency devices served as warning signal that was expected to provoke a rapid response.
Disapproval
He expressed disapproval of organisations that fell back entirely on NADMO for help in time of trouble. He said establishments could, in the meantime, help themselves before a NADMO rescue team arrived.
For example, he said, after a heavy downpour in Accra last week that flooded the premises of Guinness Ghana Limited, NADMO had to be called to rescue 13 staff members of the company.
“If they had any useable emergency response measure, they could have done something before the NADMO team got there,’ he explained.
Mr Portuphy urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure that they properly inspected construction sites before giving out building permits.
“You need to make sure that building sites are not vulnerable to disasters so that occupants of installations do not become victims of disaster,” he said.
He lauded the Greater Accra Regional office of NADMO for its effort in training 30 of its staff to respond to emergency needs.
He said the move complemented the efforts of NADMO. He urged other regional offices of NADMO to train rescue teams to respond to emergencies.
Commitment
In his address, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, encouraged the rescue team to remain calm and committed to their duties to help save lives and properties.
He said as an operational unit, the team was expected to play a significant role in raising the performance of NADMO.
“Each time you are called to a scene of disaster, you must be prepared to use all the skills you have learnt over the years, including what your recent training has equipped you with,” he said.
Mr Afotey-Agbo further urged them to take up the best practices and standards associated with disaster management organisations worldwide and exercise self-discipline at all times.
“You have to strive to be the best, most efficient and responsible disaster managers that you can be. Attend to disaster and rescue operations with courage, bearing in mind that the public demands and deserves the best from you,” he added.
Regional Co-ordinator
The Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Daniel Mensah, said the inauguration of the search and rescue team was to complement the efforts of the mother organisation.
He said the team went through a week’s intensive training in disaster management, firefighting techniques, search and rescue response, first aid, communications and voice procedure, among others.
