By Belize Live News Staff: Emergency responders across Belize are putting their skills to the test this month.
Forty officers from the military, police, and fire service are taking part in the 2026 National CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU) Exercise, an intensive training program built around realistic emergency scenarios.
The goal? To make sure responders can act fast and work as one team when disaster hits, whether here in Belize or elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Run by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) under its Regional Response Mechanism, the exercise is the final part of CDEMA’s 2026 CDRU program. Throughout the week, trainees are covering logistics coordination, deployment procedures, emergency telecommunications, warehouse management, and safer building methods, along with the CDRU deployment kit and the CDEMA Logistics System.
The training pairs classroom learning with practical field exercises and is led by CDEMA’s Rasheed Pinder, Program Officer for Preparedness and Response.
It all builds toward a simulated deployment that will test just how ready Belize and the wider region are to respond when the call comes. The activity runs from June 15 to 22.
Support for the initiative comes from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the World Food Program.
