The College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR), with the assistance of the Security Services Office (SSO) of UPLB, conducted a disaster response and fire safety seminar and drill on July 24 for the CFNR constituents.
This undertaking complied with Executive Order No. 29, series of 2017, which designates July as the National Disaster Resilience Month (NDRM) and mandates all government agencies to conduct activities related to disaster-resilience building, ensuring equal advancement of four thematic areas of disaster risk reduction management, namely: disaster prevention and mitigation, disaster preparedness, disaster response, and disaster rehabilitation and recovery.
This year’s official theme for the NDRM observance was “BIDAng Pilipino: Building a Stronger Filipino Well-Being Towards Disaster Resilience” to highlight the importance of collaborative efforts and overall wellness to achieve national resiliency.
The activity was divided into two parts, the first being a lecture on Basic Concepts of Crisis and Disaster Response Guidelines by Special Police Assistant Chief Jonathan Maliwat. The talk was held from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm at the CFNR auditorium.
SOII Grizelda Marza discussed Module 1-Legal Basis of Campus Fire Safety; Special Policeman Alva Marie Tirones discussed Module 2-Campus Fire Protection System; Special Police Lieutenant Pamela Mai Arquiza discussed Module 3-Campus Fire Hydrant; and Special Police Lieutenant Kristine Bernadette Matalog discussed Module 4-Campus Fire Drill.
At precisely 3 pm, the first alarm sounded off to signal the start of the drill based on a simulated event beginning with a strong earthquake. The CFNR personnel performed “duck, cover, and hold.” With the second alarm, everyone evacuated the building and assembled at the designated evacuation area.
The Incident Command System was then activated with a scenario where two victims were trapped in the collapsed structure. An SSO team conducted the search and rescue, and the UHS emergency team transported the recovered victims in an ambulance to the nearest hospital. A fire followed the huge earthquake and the SSO firefighting team arrived at the scene and put out the fire.
Present were personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection Los Baños (BFP-LB), SFO1 William A. Maningas and FO2 Jelo O. Delos Santos, and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), headed by Ms. Cynthia N. Quintans, who was invited to serve as evaluators. They gave their post-assessment of the activity.
Eric Luis Cabrido, administrative officer, expressed his appreciation and commendation on behalf of CFNR to SSO, BFP-LB, MDRRMO, and CFNR participants for the successful conduct of the activity. (Kristine Bernadette Tandang Matalog)
This article was originally published on the UPLB website.