In the wake of any disaster, the community is the first responder. When communities were aware and volunteers were trained, it eradicates the fear from their hearts. They became resilient and prepared to support other in the time of crisis.

The severe floods of 2018 affected the south States especially Kerala, due to unusually high rainfall during the monsoon season. Spells of rain in July and August 2018 caused Kerala’s most severe floods since 1924. The devastating floods and landslides affected 5.4 million people, displacing 1.4 million people and took over 483 lives. All 14 districts of the state were placed on red alert. According to the Kerala government, one-sixth of the total population of Kerala had been directly affected by the flood. The Indian government had declared it a Level 3 Calamity, or “calamity of a severe nature

Parassala, a small town located near the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu was one of the most affected areas by the flood. Low-lying areas along the banks of Neyyar at Neyyattinkara have been inundated due to the torrential rain and increased outflow of water from Neyyar Dam. Due to the flood, all the residents were shifted to various relief camps set up in and around Neyyattinkara town by the Indian Army from Pangode Military camp, Fire force and local people. It was a nightmare for many residents. Above all, there was a huge amount of agricultural loss as all the paddy fields such as banana and vegetable farms were destroyed.  Many years of hard work was lost in just a single night.

Caritas India, as part of the programme, Navajeevan – Building Disaster Resilient Communities in Kerala, had formed Disaster Management task forces across 310 panchayat wards in the State. The goal of forming task force members or also known as Caritas Samaritans was to ensure timely grassroots support to at-risk communities in the event of an untoward event. The protagonists of this story are 25 task force members from four Disaster Clinics Teams namely Thozhukal, Pavila, Rameshwaram and Vazhuthoor under the Kshema Internet Development Society.

In light of Search, rescue and swimming regarding possible flooding in Parassala, Kshema Internet Development Society organized training for the Samaritan volunteers in collaboration with District Fire and Rescue department. As a preliminary step to combat floods, these volunteers were provided general flood awareness training, search and rescue method and swimming training by Fire and Rescue department professionals. Following this, it has been noted that the trained volunteers involved in all the emergency service initiatives implemented by Kshema with the support of Caritas India and Kerala Social Service Forum (KSSF) especially the distribution of emergency medical kits and other services during this Covid-19 Pandemic.

The volunteers stated that this made them learn the basics of search and rescue and life-saving techniques. Through the training as a first responder in disaster management, they were able to efficiently contribute to the rescue operations together with other like-minded local community members and the Local Self Government. Shri PK Rajmohan (Chairman, Neyyattinkara, Municipality). Mr. Premkumar and Team Neyyattinkara Fire Station Senior Officer appreciated Caritas India and Kshema Parassala for these initiatives on building the capacities of the community volunteer to become a self-resilience. The capacity and knowledge building of at-risk communities lays the foundation of risk reduction and systematic disaster management.