NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (MAY 28, 2015) –The Ministry of Health in association with the PAN American Health Organization (PAHO), is hosting a Mass Casualty Management Workshop for Health Personnel at the Llewellyn Newton Disaster Management Facility from 25 to 29  May 2015.

 
Minister of Health Hon. Mark Brantley attended the opening ceremony and expounded on the importance of the workshop. He encouraged participants to take all that they could from it.

“This five-day multi-sectorial training course… is designed to sharpen the skills of first responders and others to effectively manage mass casualty events, in resource constrained settings such as ours in St. Kitts and Nevis…

“I would want you the participants to enjoy yourselves but in enjoying yourselves, also learn the critical skills. It is one of the truisms, perhaps of this kind of training, that I as Minister hope you never need to use it but in the event that you do need to use it, it is important that you do have it,” he said.

Project Officer Brian Dyer gave remarks on behalf of the Disaster Management Department. He stated that mass casualties can occur at anytime so it is essential to be prepared to handle such disasters when duty calls.

“Disasters happen at anytime… Mass Casualty situations can develop from any event. We have mass crowd gatherings at our festivals and our sporting events. We have to be prepared to manage these disasters,” he said.

 Coordinator of the workshop and Medical Officer of Health Dr. Judy Nisbett said the Ministry of Health has been partnering with PAHO for a number of years, in continuous efforts to strengthen training in the area of mass casualty management.

In response, the lead facilitator for the week-long workshop Peter Burgees of PAHO expressed that it was a pleasure for the organization to assist in the training exercise.