TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The City Local Government Unit of Tabuk participated in the first quarter nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill (NSED) recently led by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) in coordination with the BFP Tabuk, Tabuk City Police Station, Red Cross, City Health Services Office (CHSO), and City Public Order and Safety Office (CPOSO).
CDRRMO Head Jeremias Ammakiw acted as the incident commander during the drill, with the participation of the different offices.
The earthquake drill is a set of simulated emergency circumstances designed to test the ability of the CLGU employees to take the most appropriate actions to ensure their safety in actual situations.
During the drill, the employees were tested on how they acted on their emergency response plan and how they reacted appropriately in a real-life scenario.
The incident Management Team made several observations during the post-evaluation meeting: some employees were not paying attention to the duck, cover, and hold procedures, indicating that they were not taking the drill seriously. A significant number of the staff lacks the necessary skills and understanding to carry out the drill.
During the exercise, it was also noted that there were errors in the reporting system and that the head counts in the assembly area were not done properly.
The team recommended to conduct more intense information, education, and communication campaigns for all staff members to enhance their abilities and encouraged them to treat the drill seriously in order to address some of the observations.
Among the participating offices, the City Health Services Office and the City Public Information Office were applauded for being the only offices that followed the duck, cover, and hold procedures.
Ammakiw encouraged all the offices to brush up on their drill handling techniques in order to be ready for real disasters that could occur at any time.
During the exercise, the Red Cross and the CHSO functioned as a medical team, providing the victims with care and transporting them to the Kalinga Provincial Hospital for prompt treatment.
Within the city hall compound, the POSO and PNP secured the area and assisted the staff.
In addition to having search and rescue and medical support training, the BFP was also responsible for sounding the emergency siren that alerted people to the earthquake.
The team has promised to make sure that all of the recommendations and observations are taken into consideration and addressed so that city residents will be fully prepared in the event that a real earthquake occurs at any time.
They will be conducting additional NSED in the upcoming months with participation from other offices and schools in the city. By Ian Addatu
