MHAM students during the Earthquake Drill
The Office of Civil Defense-Regional Office 7 (OCD-RO7) in collaboration with the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) recently conducted an earthquake drill to MHAM students and employees to strengthen its continuous drive to intensify local communities’ participation for disaster preparedness campaign which was held at the MHAM College of Medicine campus, Redemptorist Plaza, Cebu City last November 17, 2017 in the afternoon.
Give way to our freshmen students
Led by the MHAM School-based Crisis Organization Responding to Emergencies and Disasters (SCORED) team leader, Mr. Jarvis Prochina in cooperation with the Campus Safety and Security Department, the earthquake drill was generally aimed to promote disaster preparedness through participation from various public and private institutions including MHAM.
MHAM CESO Director and School-based Crisis Organization Responding to Emergencies and Disasters (SCORED) team leader, Mr. Jarvis Prochina (top photo) and the General Services employees in action (below)
According to the OCD-RO7 training officer, Ms. Riza Joy Hernandez, the collaboration with local agencies and private institutions increases the commitment of public participation as the key players for a safe place of studies and employment and in building safe communities in local areas.
Interview with the Office of Civil Defense-Regional Office 7 Training Officer, Ms. Riza Joy Hernandez
“Actually all schools are mandated by law to come up with a drill every quarter of the year to check the capability of the students as well as the school on how to respond in the event of an emergency”, said Hernandez in an interview.
Intensifying local communities’ earthquake preparedness through an earthquake drill with OCD-7 Training Officer, Ms. Riza Joy Hernandez…
This dedicated OCD training officer who conducted an Incident Command System and Response Readiness Orientation to the MHAM SCORED members last July this year also added that the previous orientation and training served as the birds eye view towards emergencies with preparedness and readiness. It was the first time that an earthquake drill was conducted in MHAM.
“With us here is the Cebu City DRRMC because this is their area and we are just here to guide the school with the mandate of Cebu City so that in any calamity we are ready to respond to such situation. We do not end here because this is just the beginning and there are lots of scenarios that we can inject within the drill. By the time that the school will be transferred in Banawa hopefully we can hold another drill with scenarios to be more challenging with a level-up performance”, she concluded.
At the Evacuation Area led by the MHAM Campus Safety and Security Team
Freshman student, Miguel Luis G. Aragon shared his insights on emergency preparedness and emphasized that panicking during disaster can worsen the situation and might lead to hazards and unfavorable situations.
Freshman student, Miguel Luis G. Aragon in an interview
With MHAM aspiring-doctor, Miguel Luis G. Aragon after the drill…
“This earthquake drill is very important to us students who also play a vital role in handling every situation and for us to be able to apply what we have learned in times of emergencies and not to panic”, said this 25-year old aspiring-doctor who had participated earthquake drills since grade school.
The drill was participated by students, faculty, general services and non-teaching employees who are expected to participate in the next earthquake drills and to engage in different activities in relation to disaster preparedness. As one team, all students and employees must be capable to handle scenarios along with the role of the response and rescue team to reduce the severity of any catastrophe.
Post-drill moments at the Redemptorist Plaza
Driven by their passion to serve and to share their expertise, the OCD-RO7 aims to lead earthquake drills in the locality with its goal to tap more private institutions for periodic drills involvement. Aside from earthquake drills, they are also occupied in facilitating life saving and search and rescue trainings in Metro Cebu with its unrelenting effort towards proper information dissemination for disaster preparedness in the community level.
Looking back, three devastating earthquakes were recorded in the neighboring provinces such as the 6.9 magnitude quake in 2012 that hit Negros Oriental, the unimaginable 7.2 in 2013 that rocked Central Visayas and the most recent magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Leyte just this year.
Earthquake Drill Evaluators: OCD-RO7 Planning officer, Ms. Tashuana Alemania Villaflor and Mr. Harold Alcontin of Cebu City DRRMC
Aside from Ms. Hernandez, also gracing the earthquake drill as evaluators were OCD-RO7 Planning Officer, Ms. Tashuana Alemania Villaflor and Mr. Harold Alcontin of Cebu City DRRMC.
In an interview with Ms. Tashuana Alemania Villaflor, she stressed the importance of proper response and how safe is the evacuation area during a drill.
With the OCD-RO7 Planning Officer, Ms. Tashuana Alemania Villaflor…
Although the drill is not an assurance of survival during an actual calamity but since this is the first earthquake drill in MHAM so far there are still many things to work out for improvement. As I observed, not all of the six phases of the drill were applied. The earthquake itself is not the reason why many lives were lost during a tremor but it is the impact of the earthquake such as the collapse of the building that causes devastation of lives and establishments”, Villaflor said.
To date, the MHAM SCORED team alongside with its Disaster Management Committee which includes First Aid, Site Security, Fire Safety, Evacuation, Communications and Damage Control Teams seek to implement specific plans and measures as a preparation to help reduce the effects of unpredicted disasters within the school premises. (Ana Liza Abao)