17 Oct 2023

It is critical for various sectors to develop their own Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) which can work perfectly during emergency and shorten the response time. Developing one Standard

Operation Procedures has shown to be impossible to be used by various sectors as they experienced different hazards and respond differently.

The Director of National Disaster Management Office, Mr Moagi Baleseng, said in an interview post five-day National Disaster Preparedness Conference.
Standard Operation Procedures provide a clear cut direction and detailed instructions needed to perform a specific task or operation efficiently.

They  spell out the roles of sectors and helps to maintain standard compliance.

Mr Baleseng promised to follow some sectors which did not attend the conference to encourage them to have SOPs noting that it was dire to plan in advance before any emergency could happen.

Standard Operation Procedures helped to increase efficiency, accuracy, predictability, safety as well as accountability in the case something went wrong.

He commended some sectors such as Water Utilities Corporation, Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAAB) for having the opportunity to present their SOPs during the conference and called other sectors to take it as a lesson and do the right thing.

“CAAB SOPs respond to four types of emergencies such as acts of unlawful interference, aircraft crash, medical emergency and search and rescue and the developed SOPs provide basic guidance on what is expected from aviation emergency.”

Mr Baleseng appreciated that the conference was a success as they had an opportunity to re-look and play to see how they could best improve their preparedness in case of disaster situations.

He gave credit to CAAB which ended the conference with a simulation exercise that comprised of two activities; search and rescue and aircraft crash.

Outlining the purpose of the simulation exercise, CAAB communications manager, Mr Modipe Nkwe, said aircraft crash was one of the major disastrous situation because it could tarnish the good name of the country hence aviation safety was paramount.

The exercise meant to test their coordination and preparedness as the first respondent to the emergency, adding that they also wanted to check if other stakeholders understood their roles during risky situations such as aircraft crash and search and rescue. ENDS