Caribbean Emergency and Disaster Medicine Centre (CEDMed) Launched

The Caribbean’s ability to respond after hurricanes, floods and other crises is set to be strengthened with the launch of the Ross University School of Medicine’s Caribbean Emergency and Disaster Medicine Centre (CEDMed), unveiled Wednesday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Senior Associate Dean of External Affairs, Dr Rhonda McIntyre, said the centre was created out of an urgent need to address health gaps exposed during disasters, pointing to the region’s 793 climate-related events between 2000 and 2023, which caused over US$181 billion in storm-related losses. Barbados alone recorded nearly US$300 million in damages from 14 events during that period.

“Resilience must be built into every layer of our societies, our infrastructure, our institutions, and our people,” Dr McIntyre stressed, adding that CEDMed would serve as a hub for “building capacity across the region.”

The centre will deliver specialised training, including emergency cardiovascular care, develop partnerships, and strengthen disaster medicine programmes. Its phased rollout will prioritise establishing training programmes, expanding offerings, and deepening collaborations.

“The RUSM CEDMed Centre is more than a hub, it’s a beacon of a safer, stronger, and more sustainable Caribbean,” Dr McIntyre declared.