Rescuers from Virgin Islands Search and Rescue joined marine protection crews from Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands for a two-week search-and-rescue training programme hosted in the territory this month.
The Jan. 13-24 “train-the-trainers” course — which included theory, tabletop exercises and practical elements — was delivered in partnership with His Majesty’s Coastguard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a British non-governmental organisation, according to the Governor’s Group.
Participants will now teach others the skills they learned from the RNLI trainers who facilitated the course.
On the water
Governor Daniel Pruce attended the training course on Jan. 17 to thank the RNLI and observe a simulated search-and-rescue operation.
“This type of training is vital to ensuring our crews are trained and up to date with international industry standards for search and rescue so they can provide the best service possible to the territories,” Mr. Pruce said. “Having observed a search-and-rescue exercise out in VI waters, I know we are all in safe hands.”
David Whiddon, senior international programmes manager at the RNLI, said the agency has been working on partnerships to support organisations across the overseas territories.
“The RNLI’s international work focuses on sharing our knowledge and lifesaving expertise to help build organisations’ capacity to save even more lives from drowning, which sadly takes 300,000 lives a year around the world,” he said.
Because search-and-rescue organisations in different jurisdictions face similar challenges, he added, collaborating is a good way to develop solutions.
‘Incredible’ opportunity
VISAR Operations Manager Phil Aspinall said the VI non-profit organisation was proud to co-host the initiative, which is now in its third year.
“I was privileged to be one of the delegates at the last one in Bermuda in November 2023, and the biggest takeaway for me was that the challenges we all face in this industry are similar in all of the jurisdictions, and yet the solutions have evolved slightly differently, quite often as a result of equipment and personnel availability,” Ms. Aspinall said. “So to have the RNLI’s 200-plus years of experience to guide and steer all of us is an incredible and valuable opportunity.”
British Caribbean News