Anderson Tuitt: From Montserrat to Antigua, A Devotion to Safety and Service

When Anderson Tuitt looks back at how his career began, he doesn’t see it as a carefully mapped plan. Instead, he describes it as a calling.

“The career path chose me. After being fired from a previous job, I stood in the yard and prayed about my next move and as I opened my eyes I heard a siren and saw an emergency vehicle and the rest became history. I inquired about joining the EMS at the time and everything just fell into place,” Tuitt recalled.

Born in Montserrat, Tuitt relocated to Antigua and Barbuda in the early years of the volcanic crisis. What followed was more than 25 years of service in emergency medical care, the military, law enforcement, firefighting, and disaster management. Along the way, he discovered a deep passion not only for responding to crises but also for educating others on how to prepare for and face them.

“There is a need for people to be educated as to what they should do in times of emergency and disasters, and my goal is to fill that gap the best way I can,” he said.

It was that conviction that led Tuitt to establish STEPS – Safety Through Education, Prevention and Strategy on August 29, 2015. The programme, now celebrating its tenth anniversary, has become a trusted source of information on fire safety, road safety, medical safety, personal safety, water safety and disaster preparedness.

Over the past decade, Tuitt has delivered training and awareness sessions in schools, faith-based organisations, NGOs, businesses, summer camps, and community groups across Antigua and Barbuda and beyond.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, when public gatherings were restricted, Tuitt seized the moment to modernise STEPS’ outreach. He launched safetysteps.org, which quickly became a widely used resource for pandemic information and safety guidance. Today, the website delivers daily updates on natural and man-made emergencies to an international audience.

“I will continue to do this work as long as I can and in any possible way because making a difference in one life is a difference in a household. A difference in a household is a difference in a community, and ultimately it is a difference in a country,” Tuitt said.

Looking ahead, STEPS is seeking corporate partnerships to expand its reach and deliver new projects. Tuitt remains grateful for the support received so far: “I want to thank everyone who has supported me and the STEPS initiative over the last ten years and we look forward to ten more years of positively impacting our people through information and education.”

STEPS continues to engage the public through Facebook and its WhatsApp Channel.
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