NICHOLL'S TOWN, Andros -- The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, conducted Phase II of its Water Rescue Training Exercise on the island, in collaboration with the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), held April 28 to May 1, 2014.
Andros was the second island to receive the training, which took place in the settlement of Nicholl's Town at the Nicholl's Town Gospel Chapel Youth Hall.
USNORTHCOM donated the necessary equipment to facilitate the training and additional equipment to assist rescue teams with responding to disasters near the coast or swamplands.
The 19 participants who hailed from the community were taught how to: establish a Search and Rescue Programme, Common Skills (Rescue Organisation & Searches), handle ropes, hardware and knots, Low Angle Raising and Lowering, Simple Mechanical Advantage, Surface Water Rescue (Shore based rescue assessments, organisation and searches).
Participants included: Charlene Whyms, Carson Lundy, Kelson Colebrook, Kirkwood Dean, Tammy Farrington, Stephen Riley, Shane Miller, Owen Julius Hanna and Natalie Pratt, the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Natheria D. Pratt and Clorice Taylor-Knowles, Civil Aviation Department, Colin Ingraham, Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Omar Miller, Ministry of Public Works and Urban Development, Johnathan Fowler Sr., Nathaniel Pratt and Wendell Evans. Volunteers, Malissa Coakley and Andrea Smith Department of Public Service and Navardo J. Rolle, Western Air. Thirteen participants received level 2 certification and six received level 1.
The purpose of the training and equipment programme was to equip and train a team of individuals on the island to be able to effectively respond to a disaster in nearby waters. However, NEMA's main focus for this particular water rescue training was to ensure that individuals in the community are properly trained to respond if an aircraft or boating mishap happened in waters near the coast.

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