In association with the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) under the Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) Stage 5 organized the Community Action for Disaster Response (CADRE) course training to enhance the skills of community responders in Nepal. The training was conducted in Makwanpur district, Bagmati province on 21 – 24 November 2021.
The purpose of this training was to empower the communities of the country to reduce the impact of disasters by initiating response operations with minimal support from professional rescuers. The course equips the volunteer responders with the skills to effectively use the locally available resources and equipment in performing life-saving procedures. 23 participants from Ratnanagar, Kalika, Bharatpur, and Khairahani Municipalities of Chitwan district and Hetauda Municipality of Makwanpur district took part in the training.
PEER aims at strengthening the community while integrating its courses into the country’s institutional plans and budgets. The training acts as a first step in developing community volunteers who will further use their knowledge and skills as instructors in the future, thereby, creating a community-led force of volunteer responder training in the country. This would empower the institutions to mitigate disasters.
The training started with the foundation of the course on the first day. This included sessions on the common hazards, the incident command system, and the community response group. The second day dwelled into responding to different kinds of emergencies and practical sessions on subjects like Triage, Dead Body Management, Fire Emergencies, and Basic Search Techniques.
Day three began with a practical session on basic search techniques in performing hail serac and line search which was followed by an exercise on water emergencies. The final day of the training covered practical sessions on other emergencies and looked at evaluating the knowledge gained by the participants through the final practical exercises.
In the end, the Secretary of NRCS, Pitamber Basto appreciated the instructors and the participants and added, “I am inspired by the team effort of all organizers.” He further congratulated the participants for successfully completing the course and requested them to play an active role during emergencies to help their family and community as a whole.
Cover Image by Freepik.
