Sri Vijaya Puram, Feb. 25: In accordance with the directive of Chief Secretary, A&N Administration to hold quarterly mock drills in each Department, the Directorate of Disaster Management conducted the fifth mock drill in the Directorate of Fisheries today. This drill was conducted by developing real-time earthquake and tsunami simulation scenarios to test the Department’s response to a disaster. During the drill, all officials and staff of the Fisheries Department, along with teams from resource Departments (District Administration, A&N Police, Health, Fire, NDRF and Electricity) participated.
The Department used the PA system to issue alerts and warnings to all staff. Upon receiving the alert on the earthquake and tsunami, as per the scenario of the mock drill, the staff followed the Duck, Cover & Hold procedure for earthquake safety. After two minutes, they began evacuating towards the identified safe area.
The Incident Commander of the Department deployed his teams to immediately communicate with resource Departments (SEOC, DEOC (S/A), Fire, Police, Electricity, Health, etc.) for their support and assistance. The NDRF, fire tenders and ambulance promptly arrived at the mock site for search & rescue operations and the hospitalization of the injured.
After completing all steps and activities, the Incident Commander issued an “all-clear message”, calling off the mock drill. Following this, a debriefing session was held at the Fisheries Department with all staff, officials, and resource Department representatives wherein findings and gaps observed during the mock drill were discussed. The Officers from resource Departments were requested to enhance their preparedness levels and provide basic life-saving trainings to all staff and Department teams to ensure an effective response to emergencies.
