MORE than 40 third year students of the School of Nursing and Health Studies of the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE) completed a week-long disaster workshop conducted by staff of the National Disaster Management Office.
The first three days focused on Introduction to Disaster Management and the last two days on Initial Damage Assessment.
In closing the workshop, Head of School, Verzilyn Isom thanked the Ministry of Home Affairs through NDMO for supporting them with the training.
“This training, ongoing since 2004, is very important for our third year students because they will be posted to rural areas after they graduate,” Ms Isom said.
“I know that the training has empowered them to know exactly what they need to do to support NDMO in future disasters,” she said.
She added that including her staff in the courses this year will help them to start training the courses as from next year.
NDMO’s Chief Administration Officer Janet Prakash also thanked the staff and students of the school for requesting the workshop.
“We are happy to be part of this programme because it helps us pass knowledge on to people who go to where we will not be able to,” Ms Prakash said.
“And we hope they will pass the knowledge on to those with whom they will work.
“We also hope that the school’s lecturers who have participated will be able to teach this course from next year.
“This is important because it will make your school own the program rather than us coming all the time to present it,” said Ms Prakash.
The Introduction to Disaster Management component focused on hazards, emergencies and disasters; hazard, vulnerability and risk; the disaster management cycle; national plans, programs and arrangements; community level management and course application.
The two-day Initial Damage Assessment on the other hand gave the new nurses skills in rating damages, analyzing information and prioritising needs before passing them on to responsible authorities.
The one-week workshop was co-funded by the Solomon Islands Government and The Asia Foundation and the United State’s Overseas Fund for Disaster Assistance, OFDA.
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