1 December 2021
Shayla Murrell – Interviewer
Information Officer, Barbados Government Information Service
Daniel Mendez
Avoidable Deaths Network Regional Coordinator – Caribbean
Krishna Clarke
Avoidable Deaths Network Regional Coordinator – Caribbean
The Avoidable Deaths Network (ADN) was introduced in an interview with Ms. Shayla Murrell, the Information Officer at the Barbados Government Information Service and two of our Caribbean Regional Coordinators, Mr. Daniel Mendez and Mr. Krishna Clarke. A separate interview was also conducted with the Chief Fire Officer of the Barbados Fire service and President of the Caribbean Association of Fire Chiefs, Mr. Errol Maynard. The combined interviews were aired on two prominent radio stations in Barbados, the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Voice of Barbados (VOB) on December 1, 2021.The ADN was founded in 2019 to help policy makers, practitioners, and responders to make better decisions to save lives and injuries for sustainable development. The interview first started with Regional Coordinator Daniel Mendez, building a foundation of what constitutes an ‘avoidable death’ and how the Caribbean can benefit from the research and lessons learned from the ADN’s expertise with regard to those types of deaths.
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Errol Maynard, spoke about reducing deaths in fires. He highlighted the number of deaths and the reasons for these fatalities occurring such are carelessness, criminal activity, and persons with disabilities including the elderly who could not escape. He concluded with mitigation actions through awareness and education of protective measures.
The conversation switched to Daniel who further explained to the audience, some of the metrics or data recorded in past research such as an increase in global temperatures, higher sea levels, and more intense hurricanes. He further elaborated on the key messages that governments, other entities and individuals need to hear with regards to avoiding such deaths. He went into detail on those that are vulnerable such as women and children, while also briefly speaking about his own research in Belize and the wider Caribbean region.
The Regional Coordinator, Mr. Krishna Clarke spoke on the goals of the ADN and the financial aspects such as parametric insurance that is offered by the regional insurance facility Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC). He elaborated on the vulnerable as previously mentioned by Daniel and explained using recent examples such as the Vulcanic eruption in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, how these lives could be saved. He concluded by mentioning mental health as another aspect that is often ignored, as evidenced by data collected on Covid-19 in India through the ADN. The numbers of suicides were too high and concerning.
Most importantly, the interview provided information on the ADN’s upcoming virtual Symposium called ‘Integrating Disaster Risk Management with Defence and Emergency Services to Reduce Avoidable Deaths’. The symposium is to be held on December 10, 2021. The Symposium is organised in collaboration with 10 institutions namely, Shared Aim, Rights Insight, Caribbean Development Bank, Prepared International, DMAT, Regional Security System, Caribbean Association of Fire Services and Barbados Fire Services, among others.