Photo By Joseph Rivera Rebolledo | Lt. Col. Carlos Santana, Puerto Rico National Guard's State Partnership Program...... read more read more
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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Natural disasters are part of the world’s environment, some are predictable while others are not. Living in a country prone to receive unwelcomed natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, and being prepared to assist local citizens in any of these events in a timely fashion should be a concern to all, citizens and government agencies alike. How Honduran authorities prepare to react, assist, stabilize and help its citizens overcome from these events is something that requires strategic planning and synchronization from all agencies involved and a specific understanding of their role during the emergency.
The government of Honduras, in collaboration with their United States Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program (SPP) partner state, the Puerto Rico National Guard (PRNG), are exchanging knowledge on their disaster relief and humanitarian assistance operational procedures to better prepare themselves to restore basic services in the fastest time possible. The agencies set to respond to emergencies include the Honduran army, navy, fire department, police department and the local emergency management agency Permanent Contingency Commission (Comision Permanente de Contingencia) (COPECO).
“Based in our experiences and protocols, also know as standard operating procedures (SOP’s), we are able to present to our SPP partner with ideas and concepts on how to better manage the crisis that they could be facing,” said Lt. Col. Carlos Santana, State Partnership Program coordinator for the Puerto Rico National Guard.
“With this, we are providing Honduran senior military and civilian authorities the tools to better their operational system at a national level,” said Santana.
According to Santana, the visit of two and a half days consists of a seminar of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. The intent is to provide the Honduran counterparts with information on how emergency management is conducted in the United States and how convenient it would be for them in establishing an emergency response team similar to the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), designed to assist the citizens of Honduras in times of need and one that has proven its effectiveness in various emergencies.
“It would be great to see the Honduran government, COPECO, improve their emergency management procedures and protocols and be able to respond to any emergency efficiently in order to save lives through effective search and rescue skills while being able to protect property and infrastructure independently,” said Santana.
In addition to sharing how the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the National Guard’s role in assisting to disasters, Lourdes Ardon, COPECO’s humanitarian aide of the department of preparedness and response, explains how a program of this kind can benefit the people of Honduras.
“This exchange helps us strengthen as a country by expanding the knowledge for future events,” said Ardon.
According to Ardon, listening about the lessons learned in the seminar and knowing how the PRNG prepares, plans and reacts, helps the Hondurans to prepare better for any upcoming event.
At the end of the seminar more than 20 participants of various Honduran authorities were certified by the PRNG in the areas of humanitarian aid, emergency response, security and search and rescue. The seminar took place from Jan. 8 - Jan. 10.
| Date Taken: | 01.12.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 01.12.2014 12:12 |
| Story ID: | 119061 |
| Location: | TEGUCIGALPA, HN |
| Hometown: | TEGUCIGALPA, HN |
| Hometown: | SAN JUAN, PR |
| Web Views: | 466 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Ties of collaboration with Hondurans, by Joseph Rivera Rebolledo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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