SOME P220 million worth of equipment and units of vehicle for urban search and rescue (USAR) have been dispatched to the Davao del Norte Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Office (PDRMMO).
Citing this, PDRRM Officer Glenda Delideli viewed the presence and availability of these types of equipment as crucial to training conducted on USAR and in actual rescue operations of PDRRMO.
The Office had already organized its USAR Team even before the USAR units of equipment funded through the Congressional Office of Representative Pantaleon Alvarez were delivered for actual use. It conducted another set of USAR training using the complete set of equipment.
The PDRRMO hired experts from Davao City’s 911 to transfer knowledge and skills on how to conduct rescue operations on building collapse, how to extricate the human body in case of vehicular accidents, and other difficult to handle rescue operations.
Delideli considered the units of USAR as crucial to vehicular accidents, noting to have oftentimes occurred in the highways connecting Tagum City, Davao del Norte to adjacent provinces of Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental.
“Ang Davao Del Norte is sentro siya, padulong sa (Davao) Oriental, padulong sa (Davao) De Oro, ug padulong sa Davao City.
Mosugot ta’g sa dili, diri kasagaran mahitabo ang dunay mga car accidents.(Davao del Norte lies at the center going to Davao Oriental, going to Davao de Oro and towards Davao City. We agree or not, car accidents oftentimes happen here),” she said.
“So, dapat nato i-equip ang atong mga responders, alang sa pagtabang kay kita man ang naga augment kung unsa ang kakulangon sa mga LGU’s (So, we have to equip our responders to provide assistance because we are augmenting whatever is lacking in the LGU),” she added.
With the advanced rescue equipment, the PDRRMO can now extend assistance to other LGUs especially those within the province, and Delideli said a “twinning agreement” would be of help to formalize partnership in rescue operations.
On top of USAR personnel expertise and equipment, PDRRMO has integrated into its system the water search and rescue (WASAR), and has trained those involved in USAR in the WASAR, Delideli said.(PR)