Get Earthquake Information from Legitimate Sources – ODPEM

Executive Director of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Ronald Jackson is appealing to all Jamaicans to seek information on what to do in an earthquake, from legitimate sources such as local agencies, and media houses.
“Pay attention to your local media houses and your agencies that are mandated to give this information. Seek out the knowledge, it is available. If you’ve missed a major campaign, you can still touch base with the organisations that are mandated to provide this information,” Mr. Jackson stated at a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (January 20).
He cautioned against an email, which is being circulated to Jamaicans about how to deal with an earthquake, noting that the email even suggests that the ODPEM needs to be ‘re-educated’ to inform the masses, because it is not up to the current mechanisms.
He stated that ODPEM approves no other approaches and methods apart from the drop, cover and hold technique.
“As far as we know, the method is the approved method, the sanctioned method, the method used by all emergency management agencies and authorities, and those with any credibility, and until we are informed otherwise by the approved sources, we endorse no other approaches. The drop, cover and hold method remains the approved approach. The survivability of an earthquake is always going to be a probability issue, we need to understand that,” he stated.
Mr. Jackson re-emphasised that how well persons and communities deal with living with that hazard, and how well exercise drills work during an event, will make the difference between the number of lives saved, and the number of lives lost.