ILOILO City is a recipient of various capacity-building grants of global organizations and private sectors to strengthen its disaster preparedness.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said the city's gains stemmed from strong public-private partnerships, as he expressed gratitude to the business community for helping make the metropolis resilient.
The City Government's delegation, composed of City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO), Information Systems Office, Public Safety and Transportation Management Office, and City Planning and Development Office, completed its week-long study tour in Taipei City, Taiwan on Friday, September 13.
The capacity building activity was made possible through the Apec Emergency Preparedness Capacity Building Center and the National Resilience Council (NRC).
CDRRMO head Donna Magno said the study visit intended to provide key personnel the operational framework as they develop concepts for the Iloilo City Disaster Operations Center.
NRC, as lead implementing partner of Arise Philippines, also launched on Friday, September 13, the Young Leaders for Resilience Program to engage to students in partner universities in co-creating solutions that will address resilience challenges.
Participating universities were made to undergo a Design Thinking Workshop co-facilitated by IBM, SM Prime, National University, and Asia Pacific College.
Design Thinking is a framework used to collaborate, align teams and form intent to solve users' problems, all while improving experiences at speed and scale modern organization demands. The focus is on the outcomes that delight users and deliver increased value to meet the organization's goals.
The Iloilo City Emergency Responders also underwent the International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) Training Course.
ITLS is a global organization dedicated to preventing death and disability from trauma through education and emergency trauma care.
It is the only pre-hospital trauma program endorsed by the American College of Emergency Physicians.
ITLS is accepted internationally as a standard training course and also used as an essential curricula in many paramedic, Emergency Medical Team, and first responder training programs.
ITLS courses give knowledge and hands-on skills to take better care of patients. It stresses rapid assessment, appropriate intervention and identification of immediate life threats. Its framework for effective trauma care is a global standard that works in any situation. (PR)