Page 138 - ADCMC PR REPORT - OCTOBER 2024

Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi conducts exercise to

enhance marine water protection efforts

• Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi conducts exercise to enhance marine water protection
efforts

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has conducted a tabletop exercise that explored
possible responses to red tide and fish kill events in coordination with the Emergencies, Crises and
Disaster Management Centre Abu Dhabi (ADCMC).

The exercise gathered a total of 16 Abu Dhabi Government entities to test their readiness to
confront and respond quickly and effectively to threats and emergencies caused by the risk of red
tide and fish kills in the emirate.

Khaled Mohammed Al Hajri, Director of the Emergency, Safety and Business Continuity Office at
EAD, said: The EAD is the leading entity regarding the risk of red tide and fish kills based on the
emirate’s local risk register – an integral part of the integrated system for emergency, crisis and
disaster management at the local level in Abu Dhabi. This system aims to raise the readiness of the
concerned entities to confront and respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations and
threats of all kinds.”

He emphasised that during the simulation exercise various possible scenarios were reviewed. He
also highlighted the importance of committing work teams from each government entity to activate
the general response plan for red tide events and fish deaths.
By conducting such exercises, EAD seeks to achieve several main objectives, including raising the
readiness of relevant work teams and assigning roles and responsibilities, while increasing the
teams’ experience and skills development,

The objectives also aim to raises the readiness of assets and resources required to support
emergency and crisis operations by testing the efficiency of mechanisms, equipment, and smart
systems for exchanging information and financial resources required to respond in emergency and
crisis situations. This is achieved by measuring the extent of the systems’ compatibility and the
availability of resources during response operations.

The exercises also aim to raise the quality of the planning, preparedness, and institutional
readiness process by measuring how effectively the emergency response plan was implemented,
while raising the quality of the emergency response and recovery process by measuring the speed
and effectiveness of response procedures, investigating event data, collecting evidence, and
following up on recovery processes. The exercises also help to identify the most affected areas by
assessing the likelihood of future risks and determining their severity to develop appropriate
proactive mitigation measures, as well as to identify strengths and opportunities for continual
improvement during emergency situations in accordance with the best local and international
practices and standards related to aspects of the emergency and crisis system.

The exercise included interactive discussion sessions during which ideas and experiences were
exchanged, and a set of practical recommendations were presented to comprehensively improve

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exercise-to-enhance-marine-water-protection-efforts/