Most local volunteers who jump into action during disaster outbreaks in the State lack proper exposure and training to deal with real-life situations, functionaries of a Kozhikode-based non-governmental organisation have claimed.
C.M. Pradeep Kumar, president, Trauma Care, Kozhikode (TRACK), said here on Monday: “Those who go to areas engulfed in forest fires may not have any idea about the real-life threats. People who offer help to those affected by a chemical disaster may not know anything about chemical engineering. Mere excitement to do something will put their lives under risk.”
He pointed out that such volunteers should be trained properly before being deputed to disaster-hit areas.
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Safety
“International organisations such as the Red Cross Society and the United Nations have made it clear that the safety of volunteers should be ensured first before joining rescue operations,” Mr. Kumar said. Maintaining that a majority of volunteers lacked insurance coverage too, he demanded that the government cover them under life insurance and medical insurance schemes.
Mr. Kumar said TRACK was planning to train 250 volunteers to be deployed during natural disasters in the district.
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As many as five camps will be held to train volunteers by May. The first camp was held at Poonoor. Others will be held at Vadakara, Vazhakkad, Thottilpalam, and on the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society campus.
Details of volunteers will be handed over to the district administration so that it can be part of relief work along with personnel of the District Disaster Management Authority. District Collector S. Sambasiva Rao will hand over certificates to 83 volunteers trained by TRACK at an event to be held in Kozhikode on February 26, he added.