Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: To elevate emergency preparedness and response, including firefighting services, for all Sohar facilities and tenants, Sohar Port and Freezone has launched Central Emergency Response Unit.
A signing ceremony was organised to mark this milestone under the patronage of Engineer Khamis bin Mohammed Al Shamakhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology for Transport.
“Ports play an important role not only as national economic drivers, but also serve as business and trade hubs in line with the Oman Vision 2040, which prioritises logistics as one of the most important pillars,” said Eng. Khamis bin Mohammed Al-Shamakhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology for Transport. “Sohar Port and Freezone’s investment in high-quality emergency preparedness and response will help safeguard the continuity of port operations thereby protecting the safety and vital interests of port users and Oman’s logistic chain.”
The signing was also attended by representatives from Unity Fire and Safety Services, a key local provider of firefighting and emergency response services that will manage Central Emergency Response Unit, representatives of the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) and OQ, which will assist with large scale incidents. In addition, Central Emergency Response Unit will further enhance collaboration among all partners through a regularly trained system of Mutual Aid services to adequately address large-scale and/or complex incidents.
Central Emergency Response Unit is highly trained, specifically tailored to the scenarios in Sohar Port and Freezone and prepared to handle various incidents ranging from building and industrial fires to traffic accidents to medical emergencies and traumas. Central Emergency Response Unit has several key capabilities and is tasked to provide medical assistance, standard and industrial firefighting, hazardous materials and technical rescue, including rope and confined space rescue.
On a 24-hour basis, Central Emergency Response Unit maintains an emergency response and dispatch centre to handle incident reports and alert emergency response team members. The unit is tasked with assisting anywhere within the port within six minutes of an emergency being reported. An important additional task is to add value for tenants, with services including support in their emergency preplanning and training for effective (joint) emergency response operations.
