Culture of preparedness

THE country's leading wireless services provider, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is once again priming up for typhoons as well as for other natural calamities like earthquakes.

As a service company, Smart ensures that its network facilities are resilient and delivers uninterrupted service, especially when disaster strikes and communications become vital for people’s safety and well-being.

Equally important is the safety and preparedness of the employees of Smart. They are equipped with the necessary training to be able to do their jobs without compromising their safety, including the welfare of their family and even their community.

In observance of July as National Disaster Consciousness Month, the telco launched an internal campaign aimed at instilling the mindset of preparedness among its employees.

The Employee Preparedness Week dubbed "ACT NOW" included crash courses on Emergency Management and Preparedness, First Aid, Basic Defense and Survival Skills; a talk on Assessing Personal Vulnerabilities, Threats and Risks; a three-day exhibit and a bazaar showcasing emergency and survival kits as well as outdoor equipment that Smart employees can buy in easy payment schemes.

A portion of the proceeds from the bazaar would be pooled to create a community fund to be administered by the PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) for its disaster preparedness efforts.

At the exhibit, employees checked out websites featuring a wealth of information, including flood hazard maps, fault lines and other practical information that may come in handy during times of calamities and disasters.

The importance of this inclusive campaign for safety and preparedness couldn’t be more emphasized especially with the Philippines topping the list of Asian countries hit by disasters in Asia in 2011, according to the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).

The number of disasters that hit the country last year totaled 33, way higher than China's 21, India's 11, Indonesia's 11, and Japan's seven.

The country also had the highest number of people affected by calamities such as floods, storms and earthquakes in 2011. The World Health Organization said there were 1,147,270 Filipinos adversely affected, surpassing Japan's 368,820 during the tsunami disaster.

Smart has partnered with various government agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) through Project Noah to improve flood monitoring in the country.