TAKE earthquake drills seriously.
This was learned rather late by some 18 students of the Baguio City National High School (BCNHS) during an earthquake drill conducted by the school Friday morning in coordination with the Baguio City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (BCDRRMC), Baguio Fire Department, Emergency Medical Service and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
BCNHS principal Dr. Elma Donaal questioned the spread of unverified reports in local radio and the national media regarding an alleged stampede during the drill.
The Philippine News Agency earlier reported 54 student were injured during the drill which led to an alleged stampede. The report was immediately picked up by national media.
Donaal denied the stampede in the school which accommodates more than 6,000 students.
Donaal said investigations revealed students’ complaints “were not serious” and all affected were able to return to their classes in the afternoon after taking medications and treatment.
She stressed only three students were rushed to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center but it was found that two of the cases were not caused by the earthquake drill while one who fainted was discovered to have been skipping meals.
This was also confirmed by Dr. Jocelyn de Jesus, the attending physician of BCNHS. She said one patient suffered an asthma attack, another hyperventilated while another student who is hypersensitive to sunlight developed rashes.
She explained another case was a student with head bandage who incurred injuries in a brawl Thursday and not during the exercise. This was also not verified by covering media, she said.
Donaal, meanwhile, said majority of the affected students were from Grade 7 or first year students, 13 to 14 years old.
She said students played their roles well with some in bandages appearing as if truly injured but explained these were all part of the drill.
r‘Not taken seriously’
rAfter the drill Friday, several students started pushing their classmates which resulted a student spraining an ankle, Donaal told Sun.Star Baguio.
De Jesus added several students were not listening to instructions and ended up panicking while others refused to take the drill seriously.
“Kalimitan sa mga naiinjure are those who are not listening to instructions,” she lamented.
The doctor stressed all conditions brought to the clinic “were generally manageable which resulted in the immediate release of patients.”
De Jesus said even students with asthma and other cardiac diseases must be involved in disaster exercises after a parent disallowed her daughter to join the drills.
“Everyone must be involved. So kahit na sabihin natin na may cardiac diseases at may asthma if there is a drill dapat pa rin silang isama so we would know how to move them, they would know how to react,” she said.
rDrill flaws
rBut De Jesus admitted the earthquake drill was not anywhere near perfect.
“Actually, hindi ko rin masasabi na very smooth yung drill. But it should have been very smooth except that syempre kasi kung minsan ang mga bata kasi laro-laro lang at they have not been listening,” De Jesus said.
The principal, meanwhile, stressed despite preparations, there remains room for the improvement of the yearly earthquake drill.
She also stressed she is ready to explain to the Department of Education Sec. Armin Luistro the events that transpired, emphasizing the coordinators and her office were never remiss in preparing students for the unannounced drill.
“Of course it should be unannounced. But we have prepared them well with the Athletic Bowl, Burnham Park and Harrison Road as designated evacuation areas” she said.
Nonetheless, OCD-Cordillera operations chief Engr. Jojo Valera said unannounced drills can only be conducted if a school has practiced the drills numerous times.
The principal, however, admitted it was the first time for their Grade 7 or first year students to join the drill but explained the students “had their pre-year level drill last Monday so they know already what to do.”
Donaal maintained the activity was well coordinated.
Valera, on the other hand, said they will investigate the conduct of the drill and make recommendations for the school for future actions.
“We have standards to be followed in capacitating them. We have to look at their services, signs and evacuation plans. Our staff actually has been looking for their evacuation plans,” Valera said.
He also noted that even with one personnel of the OCD detailed to the school during the drill, he was only there as an observer and may only give recommendations to the City Government and school administration.
BCDRRMC regularly conducts earthquake preparation drills in various public and private schools, colleges and universities as part of the growing awareness on disasters after the city suffered major damages during the 1990 Luzon killer earthquake where hundreds of residents perished under collapsed buildings. (JM Agreda)