Training ASEAN Trainers on Disaster Monitoring and Response System

“We anticipate the extensive use of the ASEAN Disaster Monitoring and Response System (DMRS) by ASEAN national disaster management offices (NDMOs) thanks to its sophisticated technical capabilities,” commented Mr. Said Faisal, Executive Director of the AHA Centre during the training on the use of the state-of-art DMRS, launched in Jakarta this week. “With the system now fully operational, it is important to ensure that disaster operators are fully conversant with the system, so as to maximize the AHA Centre’s ability to fully assist Member States in preparing for, and responding to, disasters.”

Installed at the Jakarta-based AHA Centre, the DMRS is a sophisticated disaster monitoring and response system that uses the Pacific Disaster Center’s Disaster AWARE platform widely utilised in the United States, Latin America and throughout the Asia Pacific region. It is able to alert disaster managers with near real-time information on natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical storms as and when they happen.

Pacific Disaster Center, who designed and installed the system, also carried out the course that focuses on mastering the use and application of the system as well as training methodologies, and features a number of practical training sessions for trainers.

“DMRS is more than a monitoring software, but with its integrated impact assessment and analytical capabilities, it is a very effective tool for preparation and response,” said Mr. Ray Shirkhodai, Executive Director of the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), adding that, “This activity marks a great milestone in collaboration with ASEAN on disaster risk reduction activities.”

The Workshop is expected to provide ASEAN NDMO trainers with the necessary skills to further train their respective emergency operation center operators on effective use of the DMRS application.

“Learning about this system has not only helped me to understand how to teach others to use it, but also to understand ways it will benefit our disaster  monitoring and response capacity in Cambodia,” said Kimhong Prak of the NCDM of Cambodia.

The AHA Centre DMRS Training-of-Trainers Course was organized by the U.S. Government-funded ASEAN-U.S. Technical Assistance and Training Facility, following the launch of the U.S.-supported disaster information system at the 21st Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management in Chiang Mai earlier this month.

Twenty four ASEAN national disaster management officers throughout the region gathered for the three-day course to learn the necessary skills and further train their respective emergency operation center operators on the effective use of the DMRS.

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