Sharpening disaster response in Sri Lanka
20 years on from the Indian Ocean tsunami, employees at DHL’s service centre in Colombo have attended a disaster response training to help crisis management in times of need. DHL’s “go help disaster response team” is trained to handle relief cargo, aid distribution and crisis warehouse management.
On 23 and 24 November, twenty employees from the express and global forwarding wings attended this course, first attending workshops on safety and stakeholder management as well as collaboration with NGOs, military and authorities before going through a practical part in a disaster simulation. This taught them how to manage incoming relief goods and drive forklifts during such situations.
Sri Lanka in particular remembers the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as the deadliest in its history. Only recently, the island experienced severe flooding due to heavy monsoon rains that resulted in landslide warnings issued in multiple districts. Disaster response is therefore a major priority.