Tabletop Exercise
On Friday the 18th November, the Disaster Risk Management Division (DRMD) in collaboration with the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) conducted a tabletop exercise with the aim of testing the efficacy of the current Port Victoria Emergency Preparedness Plan.
The main objective was to identify gaps and limitations and assessing understanding of the plan in liaisons with stakeholder’s respective of roles and responsibilities within the commercial port.
The Port Victoria Emergency Preparedness Plan is supposed to be guided by the National Integrated Emergency Management Plan (NIEMP).
The Port Emergency plan is expected to specify basic guidelines that should be followed by the Port personnel in the event of an emergency occurring either on land or in water adjacent to the port facility. It covers all types of emergencies that may arise as a result of fire, explosion, marine casualty, pollution or natural phenomena.
The Table Top exercise held at SPA was carried out through scenarios where participants were expected to execute given injects in a coordinated manner and show understanding of the situation and what was expected of them. The exercise was followed by an afternoon de- brief and discussion.
The entirety of the exercise was guided by Clive Chiffone from Seychelles Intelligence Service, Lieutenant, Colonel Michael Hollanda and DRMD Director General, Robert Ernesta. The component assessed were the preparedness of the organisations and individuals within it, evaluation of compliance and exercise execution and recommended action to improve preparedness and planning.
Following the exercise, the need for further discussion and revision of participating stakeholder’s emergency plans were highlighted and post-review meetings are being planned.
