Training barangay disaster brigades

BENCHWARMER
Ramon Dacawi

BAGUIO CITY -- A series of trainings within limited givens has provided a spine to the city’s rescue operations during calamities – right at the barangay level which, because of its proximity, can provide the immediate response needed in emergencies.

City officials led by mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. last Monday initially turned over 23 spine boards to the first batch of barangay disaster management teams to symbolize their completion of a two-day crash course on calamity preparedness conducted by the City Disaster Coordinating Council.

The teams themselves fashioned out their own orange-painted spine boards under the direction of city administrator and CDCC action officer Peter Fianza and CDCC volunteers during the week-end training series. The gadget is recommended for transporting trauma victims with spine or bone injuries.

Made out of inch-thick plywood, the board followed a pattern prepared by rescue volunteer and handyman Fernan Ballada. Ballada’s thin frame allowed him to extricate the first three landslide survivors at Cresencia Village at the height of Typhoon Pepeng. His carpentry background enabled him to design plywood coffins for victims who did not make it.

On the underside of each spine board are the names of the training graduates from each barangay. Eventually, each of the 128 barangays will be issued a spine board. Fianza said, after the resumption of the training next month.

Impressed by a demonstration of its post-training response capabilities, mayor Bautista, as CDCC chair, also handed to the Irisan Medical Emergency Clinic an ambulance earlier assigned to the city’s Emergency Medical Service. EMS will be issued a new one, the mayor said, even as former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro recently handed one to upgrade the response capability of the CDCC.

EMS head, Dr. John Tinoyan, who, as medico-legal, had to do the prepare the autopsy reports on Baguio’s typhoon fatalities, earlier organized at Irisan the city’s first barangay medical emergency clinic headed by punong barangay Thomas Dumalti and councilman Edward Caranto.

“With this basic training and the re-tooling of the barangay disaster response brigades, the city will be better prepared for the typhoon or fire next time,” Fianza said, adding the training will resume next year until all the barangays have been covered.

He noted the training will lead to the adoption of a single command system crucial in fast and coordinated response to emergency situations. A unified protocol for all rescue volunteers, he explained, will prevent overlapping of responses to calls for immediate rescue work.

The training is focused on incident command system under Engr. Archiemor Ellamil, casualty handling and first aid under Apolinario Pilit and Janice Singiten, basic fire prevention under Fire Officer Bernardo Bravo, ropemanship under Cristopher Teoxon, and basic water safety under Melchor Tagayona.

To stretch the budget, the trainees were served rice, fried fish and mungbeans or blackbeans for lunch. As added fare, the trainors likewise broke open coconuts given by officials and residents of Dipaculao, Baguio ’s sister town in Aurora province.

The series was launched last Nov. 7 for districts V and XI - City Camp Central, City Camp Proper, GEFA (Lower Q.M.), Lower Rock Quarry, Palma-Urbano, Upper Q.M and Upper Rock Quarry, Asin Rd. , Dominican –Mirador, Lourdes Sub. Extension, Lourdes Proper, Lower Lourdes , San :Luis and San Roque.

They were followed by District I (Gibraltar, Mines View Park , Pacdal, Pucsusan and St. Joseph Village ) and District XI ( Country Club Village , Happy Hallow, Lucnab, Lualhati, Outlook Drive and South Drive ).

The third batch came from Cabinet Hill-Teachers Camp, DPS Compound, Engineer’s Hill, Greenwater Village , Marcoville, Gabriela Silang, Hillside, Lower Dagsian, Scout Barrio, Sta. Escolastica and Upper Dagsian , the barangays composing districts II and III.

Under the fourth batch were Districts VII and XVI composed of Padre Burgos, Crsencia Village, Central Guisad, Lower Magsaysay, Guisad Suron, Padre Zamora and Slaughter Compound; Quezon Hill Proper, Middle Quezon Hill, Upper Quezon Hill, Victoria Village and Irisan.

Rounding up the first 10 districts and composing the fifth batch were Districts XIII and XIV – Camp 7, Camp 8, Puliwes, Military Cut-off; Bakakeng Norte/Sur, Sto. Tomas Proper, Donotgan, Sto. Tomas School Area and Bakakeng Central..