Sept. 9, 2001 – Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel will be coming to the territory this month to conduct two disaster-response training programs, one on St. Thomas and the other on St. Croix.
They and territorial emergency response officials will conduct a three-day training session on "response and readiness" Tuesday through Thursday for federal and territorial personnel. The training will take place at the Holiday Inn Windward Passage Hotel on St. Thomas.
The V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency director, Harold Baker, said all emergency services coordinators should attend the training course. The presentation "is designed to provide traning in a hurricane response scenario using common terminology and operatons procedures with our federal counterpart," Baker said.
On Sept. 17 and 18, a FEMA community relations team will conduct training in "Community Relations During Disasters" at the VITEMA headquarters on St. Croix.
The training session is for staff of VITEMA and the administration's Public Information Office, as well as public information officers from the various government agencies. It will focus on "how to develop community relations teams capable of providing officials and individuals with vital information on available disaster assistance and services during emergencies," according to a Government House release.
"A strong community relations function forms a critical foundation for a successful response and recovery operation," Elroy Harrison, VITEMA deputy director for St. Croix, said. "By building our own community relations capability, we will be better able to assess overall needs, identify special pockets of populations, and provide quick relief."
For further information about either training program, call 774-2244 on St. Thomas or 773-2244 on St. Croix.
