(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – The long awaited Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in the South Eleuthera township of Wemyss Bight, envisioned by the South Eleuthera Emergency Partners (SEEP) group back in 2010 and in great part funded by the Cotton Bay Foundation and Homeowners, is now in its’ final week before the planned grand opening on Tuesday, May 21st, 2013. Commissioner of Police, Ellison Greenslade, and the Minister of National Security, Bernard Nottage, are both expected to be in attendance to mark this very significant occasion – along with the renowned Royal Bahamas Police Force band.
Training of volunteer firefighters begins today at the Wemyss Bight site, and all interested people from the South Eleuthera community, including both men and women are being encouraged to attend the initial training sessions, which are being held from 6pm to 7:30pm every evening – from Wednesday, May 15th to Monday, May 20th. According to Assistant Superintendent Lucas Armbrister, Police Fire Chief for Eleuthera, the training will teach participants to be ready to serve at a moment’s notice, and he urged volunteers to come with enthusiasm to serve their community. The basics of fire behaviour, ground cover, use of fire extinguishers and hoses, the operation of the fire truck and pump mechanisms, and other fundamentals of fire fighting would be covered, shared Armbrister.
A public meeting was held to discuss final details and plans for the upcoming opening.
A meeting was held on site on Tuesday evening at 6pm, May 14th, 2013 which brought together members of the South Eleuthera community, representatives of the Royal Bahamas Police Force’ local team headed by Superintendent Ismella Davis, Administrator for South Eleuthera, Margaret Symonette, and the One Eleuthera group to discuss final details and plans for the opening.
The new Wemyss Bight EOC facility will provide under-served communities in the surrounding South Eleuthera area with emergency fire, ambulance vehicles and operations space. This new facility would also eliminate twenty five minutes from the driving time necessary to reach the southern communities of Wemyss Bight, Millars, Bannerman Town, Green Castle, Deep Creek and Waterford in response to emergencies from the present EOC facility located in Tarpum Bay, according to SEEP Director, Shaun Ingraham.
EOC in Wemyss Bight approaches completion – Grand Opening planned for Tuesday May 21st
At the meeting, Superintendent Davis expressed that the spirit of volunteerism that she has experienced in her post in Eleuthera is higher than anywhere she has worked previously. She also clarified that although the fire truck vehicle would be officially handed over to the Royal Bahamas Police Force at the opening on Tuesday, the equipment was in actuality being given to the community, and stressed the need for trained community volunteers, saying, “Let’s make this community as safe as we can.”
Items discussed amongst those in attendance included, the availability of first aid training by local experts, Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS) training for physicians and nurses, financial support for some maintenance operations by local government, local Bahamas Red Cross community emergency response teams contributions, the possibility of risk insurance for volunteers, and the creation of a local management and advisory board for the facility. Ideas were also discussed for the creation of a historical commemoration of South Eleuthera’s communities, using the walls of the site in writing and graphic representations, as a way of highlighting the stories of the surrounding communities to visitors and community members using the site.
Construction of the Wemyss Bight EOC began in March of 2011, and numerous people and organizations have since then contributed to the completion in the form of cash, in-kind, discounted labour and volunteer donations. Ingraham explained that recent cash donations of $10,000 from the Cotton Bay Foundation, and $27,000 from the Cotton Bay Homeowners enabled the final completion of the facility.
“The long term goal for the site is to make the EOC multi-functional to include several other community programs at the site”, says Ingraham, “including farmer’s markets, shared craft workshop facilities and a community meeting space (similar to how the Tarpum Bay EOC currently acts as a community center).” The site is also outfitted with a massive 30,000 gallon re-used rainwater harvesting tank acquired from the now closed Venta Club at a sizeable cost savings. The tank will be utilized in concert with the specially designed EOC roof structure, which was designed to incorporate low-cost sustainable building practices.
