Warm Side:
Fighting and eliminating of fires
Rescue and technical assistance
Decontamination of people/animals and materials
Conducting measurements
Alerting the population
Cleaning and granting access
Disaster management
Cold Side:
Write Advices pertaining to buildings & event safety
Develop standard operating procedures (SOP)
Develop & Review Policy & Regulation
Give trainings on fire safety to businesses/ schools/ companies etc.
Carry out fire safety inspections by businesses, schools, events, etc.
Conduct live drills and tabletops to assess the preparedness on all levels
With ESF coordinators we prepare disaster plans for different disaster scenarios
WHAT IS A DISASTER?
A disaster can be defined as an event during which
- public safety is severely disturbed;
- life, health and wellbeing of many persons, the environment or large material interests are being threatened or are damaged;
- a coordinated deployment of services and organizations is required.
National Ordinance Disaster
[Landsverordening rampenbestrijding](AB 2013, GT no. 7)
- Rules & regulations about preparations for and management of disasters;
- Disaster management tasks & responsibilities of the government;
- Tasks ministers (mainly about preparations and recovery);
- Tasks Prime Minister (supreme command and execution);
- New structure remains very similar in Country SXM, but legislation needs to be reviewed (is in progress), updated and finally approved by Parliament.
National Decree Disaster Plan SXM
[Landsbesluit HAM rampenplan Sint Maarten] - (AB 2013, GT no. 150)
This plan includes the organizational structure and tasks and responsibilities of the various services and organizations;
It also describes the possible disaster types the island may be confronted with;
Several main processes of the disaster management system are further elaborated
A disaster management plan should be prepared for every type of disaster for which the location, its nature and the effects can be anticipated. The Prime Minister formally approves these plans.
DISASTER TYPES FOR SINT MAARTEN
- Tropical storms & hurricanes
- Flooding (rain, storm surge or tsunami)
- Aviation incident
- Maritime incident
- Other extreme weather conditions
- Accident with hazardous materials
- Fire in a densely populated area
- Contamination of drinking water
- Massive food poisoning/ pandemic
- Bush and nature fire
- Collapse of large building
- Panic in large crowd
- Large traffic accident
- Geological disaster (earthquake & nearby volcanic eruption)
- Disruption of infrastructure
- Nuclear incident (shipping)
- Terrorist attack *
- Cyber-crime *. Example: a hack on the Government servers, Telecom Sector, Banking Sector
These are St. Maarten’s 10 ESF groups:
- ESF 1, GEBE: Water & Energy
- ESF 2, BT & P: Telecommunications
- ESF 3, VROMI: Public Works, Infrastructure & Logistics
- ESF 4, Fire Department: Safety, Hazardous Materials & Rescuing
- ESF 5, Police: Public Order, Security & Traffic Regulation
- ESF 6, VSA: Medical Assistance & Public Health
- ESF 7, Social Development: Evacuation & Sheltering
- ESF 8, DCOMM: Public Information & Awareness
- ESF 9, AZ: Governmental Affairs
- ESF 10, TEATT: Seaport, Airport & Hotel Activities