St. Catherine Schools Participate In Earthquake Drill

St. Catherine Schools Participate In Earthquake Drill

As part of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management’s (ODPEM) ‘Drop, Cover, Hold’ (DCH) campaign, some 300 schools in Kingston and St Andrew, St Thomas and St Catherine, simultaneously staged earthquake drills on March 22 and 23, respectively.

The simulation exercise is a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.  

Observers to see the drill in operation were selected from the St. Catherine Parish Council’s Parish Disaster Management and Climate Change Committee. These persons comprised of Councillors, response agencies and volunteers who were positioned at the various schools.

The alarm at McCauley Primary School, located at Windsor Road, Spanish Town, went off approximately 11:08 a.m., as scheduled; the sound marked commencement of the drill.

One observer, subsequent to observing and evaluating the drill, had this to say in his final comment: “the drill was a good one; it showed that the students at McCauley are sensitized, and the teachers are fully prepared, with the exception of one male teacher who seemed not to be interested in the drill at all.  In future, the advice is that everyone on the compound should be included, even the security.  Overall it was a good earthquake drill carried out at McCauley Primary School”.

Approximately twenty-five schools within the parish were selected to participate in the exercise, St. Catherine Primary, St. John’s Primary, Dinthill High, Jonathan Grant High, Linstead Primary and Junior High, White Marl Primary and Junior High, Crescent Primary, Sligoville All Age and Spanish Town Primary were among the schools selected.