The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA has commenced training of its staff to maximise the benefits of the communication facility.
The training comes following the recent acquisition of high tech digital radio communication equipment for search and rescue operations.
The equipment was recently unveiled by the Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Ahmed to facilitate prompt and efficient communication among emergency managers and humanitarian actors in Nigeria.
At the opening of the training in Abuja, Ahmed said it was intended to equip the staff with the right skills and knowledge on the use of the facility to maximise its benefit.
He said the Agency has identified the imperative of building a robust manpower through continuous human capacity training for a efficient disaster management.
Ahmed was represented by the Director, Search and Rescue Air Commodore Edward Adedokun
The first batch of the training comprises Communication officers from the headquarters and all zonal, territorial and operations offices of NEMA.
More staff are expected to be trained, soon.
The high tech digital communications equipment acquired by NEMA comprises Digital Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) and broadband communication infrastructure using Hytera devices.
Hytera radios are world class next-generation technologies that are helping industries around the world to be more efficient, effective and agile in their operations, not just for today but also for the world of tomorrow. Hytera emergency solutions ensure secure, non-of-sight wireless link on-demand to enable front line responders to communicate with on-site command centers in complicated environment.
The devices could function flexibly as walkie talkies, android smart phones and command post devices at local theatres of operation and across unlimited distance in terms of range.
The equipment consists four categories of the radios: PNC370, PNC380, PNC550 and PDC550; to create better interface between its operational and tactical actors. The radios were built with multi-mode handheld devices, capable of working as two-way radio on UHF frequencies (400-470MHz) or on cellular LTE.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
