PAHO prepares for Caribbean disaster response in advance of hurricane season

"The Pelikaan is a great help for the emergency response in the Caribbean because it can transport the infrastructure that EMTs need,” said Gabriela Pazmino, PAHO’s EMT coordinator who took part in the exercises.

The health emergency exercises included deployment of Mexico’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and the country's Red Cross. Both were transported by military helicopter to rescue patients after a hypothetical hurricane in Playa del Carmen in Mexico’s Quintana Roo state. In another part of the exercises, Mexico's Ministry of Health deployed an EMT Type 1.

Organized by the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and hosted by Mexico, the exercises were part of the annual Caribbean-focused security exercises known as Tradewinds. The exercises included Canadian and Netherlands military forces as well as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the World Food Programme (WFP), USAID, and the NGO World Hope.

“The exercises are essential because participants can practice coping with tough, stressful scenarios, but the conditions are also safe," said Luis de la Fuente, PAHO’s Regional Advisor for EMTs. “If mistakes are made, people can learn from them and try again. And the exercises allow for testing mechanisms and procedures to make sure they are ready for a real emergency."

Exercise participants aboard the Pelikaan, the logistical supply ship of the Netherlands' Royal Navy.

PAHO assists Member States in building capacity to prepare for and respond to health emergencies, as well as recover from them. This support includes assistance with development of national EMTs that play a key role in responding to scenarios that may overwhelm the clinical care capacity of integrated health services networks. In some cases, the EMTs may also be deployed internationally to help neighboring countries or other regions during emergencies.  

For example, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti in August 2021, PAHO supported Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population in requesting and coordinating deployment of 18 international EMTs to the country. The teams, aligned with EMT standards, treated 35,608 patients and performed 359 surgeries.  

De la Fuente explained that the civil-military collaboration practiced during the recent exercises is increasingly important to build response capacity in the Caribbean. For example, he said, some of the recent Caribbean Emergency Medical Team deployments have been a result of a joined effort from defense forces and Ministries of Health that help these medical teams to deploy faster to remote areas or in adverse conditions.

“These combined medical teams provide a best-practice example for civil-military health collaboration in the Caribbean as well as in Barbados and Jamaica” he said “where military provide logistic and operational support and health agencies provide clinical care capacity, allowing the national Emergency Medical Team (EMT) to reach remote or most impacted areas during complex or challenging disaster scenarios”