BY NYARIKA DOMANAIS
ILOILO – The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), led by Police Colonel Cornelio Salinas (Ret.), together with Dr. Alfonso Baldonado, chief admin in training, plans on holding a skills Olympics to assess the capabilities of emergency responders should disasters occur.
“We will do some skills Olympics to determine the extent of our capabilities in responding to incidents,” said Salinas.
The skills Olympics will include earthquake drills, fire incident response, medical emergency response, and all necessary tests of the capabilities of medical respondents, which include basic skills training in first aid, water search and rescue, mountain search and rescue, and incident command systems for executives, which are required by the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD).
Salinas said the OCD, Philippine Red Cross, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Coast Guard will be the partner agencies.
“To do the required training because this is one way to improve their skills and capabilities,” he added.
It is also an opportunity for the OCD, Department of Interior and Local Government, and local chief executives to look for aspects of the emergency response efforts that need further boost.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. has already approved the P445,000 budget for the PDRRMO’s undertaking.
“Na-approve na sang governor ang amon budget for the trainers training,” Salinas said, hoping that local government units will also set aside a budget for this program.
On March 25, the PDRRMO conducted the first quarter national simultaneous earthquake drill at the Iloilo provincial capitol with the participation of the Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine National Police, capitol security guards, and the OCD-6./PN
