THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as ten coastal youths have been trained to respond to emergencies arising during rescue operations in the sea. The training was imparted to people selected from different pockets in the coastal areas in Thiruvananthapuram.The training programme provided by the NGO Friends of Marine Life (FML) assumes significance in the backdrop of the Ockhi disaster. Courses in emergency first response and rescue dive were imparted. The trained youths will soon get international licence from the noted scuba diver training organisation Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).
FML maintained the government needs to consider those who completed their rescue dive training for the jobs promised to the coastal area residents following cyclone Ockhi. The government needs to make it their policy to induct trained personnel from the coastal areas in sectors dealing with rescue and disaster management activities such as the Coast Guard, coastal police and marine enforcement wing, the FML said in its statement.
The training took place over a period of one month with the financial needs being met by organisations such as South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS), Medimix group, Protsahan and the Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum.