A team of volunteer evaluators from the United States-based Emergency Management Accreditation Programme visited the territory last week to inspect disaster and emergency management procedures.
An eight-member team from EMAP, a non-profit organisation that accredits US states and international jurisdictions, spent the week evaluating documents at the Department of Disaster Management, and should issue preliminary findings within 60 days, said Karen Windon, the EMAP team leader.
The evaluation is the latest step in the Department of Disaster Management’s quest to have the territory EMAP accredited. The Virgin Islands would be the first Caribbean jurisdiction to achieve the accreditation, said DDM Director Sharleen DaBreo.
EMAP’s programme is voluntary, but will help the territory’s disaster and emergency management procedures gain recognition, Ms. DaBreo said.
“This is proof that we are meeting international standards: It’s validation,” Ms. DaBreo said during a briefing at the DDM office Dec. 3.
Such validation would be an asset to the department’s future grant applications and would make other resources more readily available, she added.
See the Dec. 11, 2014 edition for full coverage.
Read EMAP’s 2013 Emergency Management Standard below
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