The disaster management department conducted a training programme on the Incident Response System (IRS) here on the weekend with officials of the various linear departments attending. The training was aimed at strengthening the capability of the district administration for disaster response.
The disaster management department specialist, BB Gadnayak said that the department had already conducted a preliminary meeting with the officials of the Government Doon medical college hospital and other linear departments. In that meeting, the indicators for the effective performance of the Government Doon medical college hospital were discussed during response to any mass casualty, fire disaster or any other eventuality which may happen at any point of time. This exercise is to be followed by number of activities such as the training of officers of the government Doon medical college hospital on IRS so that the district administration can address the cross cutting issues very effectively; developing coordination among district administration, the hospital authority and the State Government for mobilsation and deployment of resources; management of traffic – internal as well as outside of the hospital campus; crowd management specially for relatives of affected people and finally the holding of a mock exercise for improvement of disaster response mechanism. This strategic movement may play a very significant role in facilitating efficient service by the government Doon medical college hospital and District administration in any crisis situation, he added.
The state disaster management secretary Amit Singh Negi said that there are 32 rounds of training activities which will be conducted at the government Doon medical college hospital involving officers of the district administration, government Doon medical college hospital and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) under the chairmanship of the district magistrate of Dehradun to address various cross cutting issues. These training programmes will be conducted by the department of disaster management, Uttarakhand. The training programmes are slated to start on October 13 with the conclusion of the same slated to be marked by the conduct of a mock exercise October 31.
According to the officials, the training programme held on the weekend was presided over by the Dehradun district magistrate SA Murugesan. Officials from various departments concerned including the fire service, traffic police, food and civil supply, health, Peyjal Nigam, Public Works Department, irrigation department, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Force, State Disaster Response Force and others along with the additional district magistrate and chief development officer among other officials were also present in the meeting. The aim of the meet was to strengthen the capability of district administration for disaster response. Officials also discussed the process and procedure of IRS which will be followed during crisis situation by the district administration. They dwelt on need for strengthening the coordination between government Doon Medical College Hospital and the district administration for effective coordination during disaster response. Mobilisation, deployment and demobilisation of resources at the time of any emergency situation were also discussed. The meeting also focused on clarification of the roles and responsibilities of various officers designated for Incident Response Team of the district.
Officials further stated that one of the major aims of conducting the training session was to involve the grass root level officials such as Anganwadi worker, ASHA worker, Patwari, ward member, village development officer and others in disaster response so that information can be passed on from one administrative jurisdiction to another. This would also enable response activity conducted by various agencies to be monitored and relief distribution to be conducted more effectively.