By: Chani Goering and Alison Somilleda

Latin America and the Caribbean—At the invitation of U.S. Navy 4th Fleet and U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) joined Continuing Promise 2024, a humanitarian mission by the U.S. Navy that aims to strengthen medical readiness and the ability of partner nations within the Caribbean and Central and South America to respond to public health disasters and humanitarian crises. The Center provides annual support for the mission, providing expertise in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR).

“Throughout the years of collaborating with PDC, we have seen a positive change within our partner nations’ emergency operations centers, and the ability of first responders to leverage PDC solutions”

During this year’s exercise, PDC facilitated partner nation capacity development which included use of its DisasterAWARE platform. DisasterAWARE made available by PDC to all humanitarian assistance and disaster management practitioners at no cost and provides global early warning and hazard monitoring, risk and impact analytics, and a suite of tools to aid disaster response and preparedness.

“The integration of PDC into the HA/DR line of effort for the Continuing Promise mission has been an integral part of enhancing the host nation’s ability to effectively mitigate, plan, and respond to natural disasters. Throughout the years of collaborating with PDC, we have seen a positive change within our partner nations EOCs [emergency operations centers], and the ability of first responders to leverage PDC solutions when managing a disaster response. We look forward to continuing to integrate PDC into future SOUTHCOM Exercises and Deployments,” said Julie Karam of the Public Private Cooperation Branch, U.S. Southern Command.

One of the key objectives of Continuing Promise is to strengthen partnerships and goodwill with countries by encouraging multinational coordination, collaboration, and knowledge exchanges through partner-led events. These events include U.S. military personnel, civilian mariners, civilian professionals, and volunteers conduct “diplomacy through good deeds.”

Pictured above: PDC’s liaison officer to U.S. Southern Command, Alex G. Carias, presents on the DisasterAWARE platform.

The USNS Burlington was deployed to several countries during the mission including Jamaica, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Colombia during the months of July and August 2024. U.S. military teams worked with host nation medical personnel to strengthen partnerships and provide health and veterinary care, direct patient care and technical expertise in community clinics to improve medical readiness, share medical expertise, support engineering projects, and reinforce disaster relief collaboration in order to better respond to public health disasters and humanitarian crises.

For PDC’s contributions to the mission, after an initial DisasterAWARE briefing, the Center led HADR trainings in Jamaica that included medical and search and rescue training for first responders. PDC worked with the Jamaica Defense Force to design an earthquake scenario for the functional exercise on the final day and included search and rescue operations and a mass casualty event. Participants included representatives from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Fire Brigade, Jamaican Defence Force, Jamaican Coast Guard, The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, and Emergency Management Technicians.

Continuing Promise stops in Colombia (leftmost, bottom right), Jamaica (top right) and Honduras (middle of right column).

During the mission’s work in Honduras, the Center designed and facilitated a Tabletop Exercise (TTX) scenario centered around excessive flooding from the passing of a Category 2 hurricane in the northern departments of the country. DisasterAWARE was used to visualize the scenario, and PDC’s extensive data holdings were used to create analytical products that highlighted the potentially affected infrastructure. Participants included representatives from the Secretaría de Estado en los Despachos de Gestión de Riesgos y Contingencias Nacionales (COPECO – the national disaster management organization), Honduran military, police, firefighters, Red Cross, the Honduran 911 Center, U.S. military, and Joint Task Force – Bravo.

Cartagena, Colombia, the fourth mission stop for Continuing Promise 2024, included a DisasterAWARE training for the Armada Colombiana and Guarda Costas to enhance disaster preparedness and response capabilities. The training included both academic presentations and hands-on instruction on the DisasterAWARE platform. Continuing Promise has visited Colombia on every iteration of the mission since its inception in 2007.

PDC led a DisasterAWARE training with the Armada Colombiana during Continuing Promise 24’s stop in Cartagena.

“Continuing Promise is a prime demonstration of the power of example, which in many cases is stronger than an example of power.”

“The relationship between our two nations stretches over two centuries of shared values of democracy, prosperity, freedom, and maritime and regional security,” said Lt. Cmdr. Zachary Smith, Continuing Promise 2024 mission commander. “Continuing Promise is a prime demonstration of the power of example, which in many cases is stronger than an example of power.”

Continuing Promise is a fundamental mission in USSOUTHCOM’s Enduring Promise Initiative, which is focused on increasing partner nation capacity and interoperability in the region and reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership, and solidarity with the Americas. Since 2007, Continuing Promise has positively impacted more people in partner nations that any other deployment series in the U.S. Navy’s history.

About PDC 

Winner of the 2022 UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction, the University of Hawai’i’s Pacific Disaster Center is a global leader in disaster risk reduction. Recognized for its National Disaster Preparedness Baseline Assessment, the Center is helping nations worldwide operationalize the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development Goals. For more than 28 years, PDC has enabled its partners with indispensable tools and insights to support evidence-based decision-making. The innovative applications of the Center’s science, technology, and advanced analytics continue to grow in demand as PDC works with diverse communities to save lives and build resilience for a safer world.

For more on this story go to: PDC GLOBAL