HEALTH SECTOR
SELF ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
IN
GRENADA
TERENCE WALTERS
DEPUTY DISASTER COORDINATOR
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY (NaDMA)
GRENADA
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Grenada is located in the southern Caribbean and is one of
the CDEMA Participating States (PS)
CDEMA – Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management
Agency. Regional body responsible for driving the DRR
programme in the Caribbean
Grenada complies with the Comprehensive Disaster
Management (CDM) approach as put forward by CDEMA (The
management of all hazards, through all phases by all people)
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Grenada’s Disaster Management Structure is integrative and
Inclusive
It includes all sectors and all people
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Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Works
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Health
Royal Grenada Police Force
Social Services
Communities/Villages
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Grenada views the Health Sector involvement in DRR
as very critical and important
The Health Services Sub Committee of the NDO is
very active
This area must be given significant attention because
of the health challenges that present after any
disaster
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RESPONSIBILITIES OF HEALTH SERVICES COMMITTEE
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Co-ordination of medical and first-aid assistance
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Requisitioning of medical supplies
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Proper identification of health service workers and first aid personnel and First-Aid stations
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Co-ordinating arrangements with Transport sub-committee for the use of additional vehicles
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Training of health service workers and emergency First-Aid personnel
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Provision of environmental health services at emergency shelters
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Preparing a list of all health facilities including pharmacies, in the State, which can be used in the
event of a disaster.
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Ensure counselling is provided to population affected in the case of a disaster.
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HEALTH SECTOR SELF ASSESSMENT
TOOL FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
A tool for HS Disaster
Coordinators to assess and
apply themselves for their
own programming & learning
purposes
Assist countries in developing
a snapshot of ‘where they
are’ in terms of Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) in the HS
DEVEOPLED BY PAHO
HEALTH SECTOR ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR DRR
PHASES & COMPONENTS
• MITIGATION
– Risk Identification
• Hazard, vulnerability, and risk
assessments
– Soft (Non-structural) Mitigation
• Land-use planning and building
code
– Hard (Structural) Mitigation
• Assessment of new and old facilities
HEALTH SECTOR ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR DRR
PHASES & COMPONENTS
• PREPAREDNESS
– DRM Governance
• Legal, policy and systemic frameworks
– HS DRM Planning
• Planning frameworks, national-level
and facility-level plans
– HS DRM Resources
• Material and human resources
– HS DRM Public Awareness
• Pre-event awareness and post-event
public health information
HEALTH SECTOR ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR DRR
ADVANCES ISDR TERMINOLOGY:
The Tool utilizes the accepted terminology in
the field of disaster risk and disaster
management as advanced by ISDR
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The health sector encompasses all entities
that produce actions, services, goods,
opportunities, and knowledge that contribute
to the maintenance and improvement of the
individual and collective health. This includes
the economic and productive activities of
other sectors which impact on health; the
political decisions, and their legaladministrative forms of expression, as well as
environmental and educational interventions
that influence the health determinants.
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THE PROCESS
• The assessment was conducted in Grenada
over a two day period, June 18 and 19, 2010
• It consisted of a Working Group meeting with
HS Stakeholders, and
• Meeting with national disaster coordinator to
corroborate HS response
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STAKEHOLDERS
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Hospital Administrator
Hospital Director
Health Disaster Co-ordinator
Chief Nursing Officer
Representative of Private Pharmacies
Representative of Private hospital
Medical Officer of Health
Senior Community Health Nurse
Representative from Central Medical Stores
National Disaster Coordinator
PAHO Country Programme Officer
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FINDINGS - MITIGATION
RISK IDENTIFICATION:
– Vulnerability assessments completed for some public
sector health facilities (HSI)
– Flood studies conducted & flood maps exists but not used
for planning
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FINDINGS - MITIGATION
SOFT MITIGATION
– HS was never involved in land-use planning
– Except for the General Hospital, respondents
could not confirm whether facilities were built to
code
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FINDINGS - MITIGATION
HARD MITIGATION
– No mitigation program
– Hospital safety improvement plan not totally
implemented
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FINDINGS - PREPAREDNESS
DRM GOVERNANCE:
– Health Service Committee very active, performs
both emergency response and advisory functions
– Health Disaster Coordinator (HDC) exist but does
not have sufficient resources to lead a HS DRM
programme
– Lack of key policies and legislation
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FINDINGS - PREPAREDNESS
HS DRM PLANNING:
– National Pandemic Preparedness Plan completed
– National HS Disaster Plan almost completed
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FINDINGS - PREPAREDNESS
HS DRM RESOURCES:
– All health facilities equipped with an emergency
power supply
– Adequate island wide emergency communication
– DRM included in training curricula for HS
practitioners
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FINDINGS - PREPAREDNESS
HS DRM PUBLIC AWARENESS:
– Health Promotion Department broadcasts health
disaster messages annually
– No dedicated public awareness program and no
planned public awareness strategy in place
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RECOMMENDATIONS
GENERAL RECOMMENDATION
– Establish full-time Health Disaster Coordinator with:
• Dedicated office
• Minimum of one administrative officer
• Financial resources
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RECOMMENDATIONS
MITIGATION
– Develop Awareness and Training Programs to enhance the HS’s
familiarity with risk reduction and mitigation issues
– Get health officials and practitioners more involved with:
• Site selection of facility
• Design of facility
• Construction of facility
– Expansion of Safe Hospital Initiative to all national facilities
– Review building codes to ensure that it contains provisions
which are specific to health facilities
– Enhance DDR information knowledge sharing
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RECOMMENDATIONS
PREPAREDNESS (I)
– Develop an HS DRM Policy
– Develop HS DRM program plan
– Design, plan and execute an annual simulation exercise based on
national HS DRM plans
– Test all health facilities disaster plans
– Develop implementation plan for to address recommendations of
the vulnerability assessment of community health facilities
– Establish dedicated office for HS DRM with DRM information (e.g.
maps, plans, training material)
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RECOMMENDATIONS
PREPAREDNESS (II)
– Expand Health Services Committee to include
greater representation from private sector facilities
– Review MOU with La Qua Brothers Funeral Home
– Establish MOUs with with private health services
providers, e.g. St. Georges University and St.
Augustine Medical Service to utilize facilities
– Integrate HS DRM into educational training courses
– Develop public awareness strategy
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WAY FORWARD
The government of Grenada recognizes the importance of the
contribution of all sub-sectors in the DRM process
The Health Sector Self Assessment Tool for Disaster Risk
Reduction has presented an opportunity for the government
to review its policies as it relates to Health Services in DRR
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WAY FORWARD
Given the current economic constraints, government
understands the importance of investing in DRR today in order
to reduce cost of disasters in the future
Government is working with CDEMA towards the
development of legislation for DRR in Grenada
Government is working towards mainstreaming DRR at all
levels
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WAY FORWARD
CHALLENGES
– Training
– Limited financial resources
– No Legislation
The government of Grenada embraces Comprehensive
Disaster Management (CDM) as put forward by CDEMA in an
effort to ensure that all phases of the Disaster Management
cycle are integrally and adequately addressed by all people
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THANK
YOU
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