Nairobi — The Nairobi City County Disaster management and coordination sector is planning to deploy a total of 55 Disaster management Officers to all seventeen sub counties with each getting 3 to 4 officers to work under the Newly formed Disaster Risk Reduction Department.
The Officers who undertook a five day training session at Kangundo road fire station that equipped them with Skills and knowledge to adequately perform their roles and responsibilities which include; Understanding the fundamentals and terminologies used in disaster risk management, identify hazards ,analyze vulnerabilities and understand the Nexus between the two,effectively communicate during disaster/emergency response and recovery,effectively collect data and provide report for disaster /emergency incidents,effectively use PPE during disaster/emergency incidents and conduct the assessments in regards to Disaster/Emergency Management.
The Chief Officer, Disaster Management Bram Simiyu in his remarks emphasised on the importance of the sector enhancing its capacity to prevent, prepare, and mitigate against disasters and emergencies before they happen.
Said Mr Simiyu "Disasters and emergencies will occur whether we like it or not. We must do all we can to prevent them. But when we are unable to, we must be prepared to respond swiftly and efficiently to them and recover effectively and even then our milestones should not be based solely on how many fires or accidents we respond to, but also on how many disasters we are able to prevent. Governor Sakaja and Deputy Governor Njoroge Muchiri have pledged to create a city of Order, where residents have hope and live in dignity."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He further stated "this being the pioneer class for disaster risk reduction I'd like to urge you to be proactive particularly when it comes to prevention and mitigation measures and as you go to work In subcounties come up with initiatives and programs in capacity building to make sure that we deal with the real issues on the ground."
Brian Kisali the Ag Director Fire and Rescue services said"as you take up this role I want to urge you to be disciplined when performing your tasks as you are our ambassadors in the sub counties and with plans to strengthen our Sector there will be more trainings and benchmarkings so that we acquire more knowledge and skills which are helpful to us."
The Officers will also be instrumental in reducing the average time taken to provide emergency relief support from an average of 30 days to a maximum of 3 days after the incident.
Also in attendance was Ag Director Disaster Risk Reduction Amos Olali and other senior Officers.
