A brief yet intense table-top exercise took place this morning (Thursday, 5 June 2014) at the Government Administration Building.

Organised by the British Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the exercise tested the emergency preparedness of FCO representatives in the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, as well as staff in London.

Exercise Sunseeker, involved an imaginary tsunami coming ashore on Grand Cayman on Seven Mile Beach in the vicinity of the Hyatt hotel. The fictional tidal wave also adversely impacted Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

Governor Helen Kilpatrick and her office led the local response. The Governor said the exercise aimed to foster collaboration between the UK and local emergency response agencies.

Front-line representatives from two other Overseas Territories and two Caribbean nations took part in the Cayman Islands exercise. These included representatives from Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as the FCO’s London and Miami offices.

Local representatives included Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI), the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Government Information Services, and four local consular representatives who were observing the process.

The exercise concluded with a debriefing, which took a critical look at the management of the simulated crisis.

The debrief participants focused on areas they might review to better strengthen preparedness. These included the timing of any initiation of the Governor’s Emergency Powers, as well as a need to fine-tune communications between the UK and the Cayman Islands.

Declaring the exercise successful, Mrs Kilpatrick added, “The drill has enhanced preparedness and underscored lessons learnt – from small, logistical issues to larger matters such as the exact protocol involved in who decides where limited resources and the Royal Navy will be deployed in actual events, as well as who will benefit from such deployment.”

This emergency exercise was also a timely precursor to the annual two-day Hurricane Preparedness Exercise scheduled to take place next week.

Photo captions: Photos by Information Officer Lennon Christian (GIS)

Governor Helen Kilpatrick holds a map of the affected area.

Officials focus on the ‘tsunami’.

(Photo – Three ladies): Consular observers participate.