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COTABATO CITY--- The Bangsamoro Rescue Team (BARET) conducted once
more its community engagement through
its two-day “Operation Undas2017” aimed
at ensuring the emergency medical needs of
cemetery goers in this city in
observance of the All Saints' and All Souls Days.
Ahmad A. En, BARET team leader, said an
emergency medical team was deployed at the Cotabato City Public Cemetery toprovide
medical assistance to the families and individuals who visited their departed
loved ones.
“We deployed two teams composed of emergency
medical first responders,” En said.
En added that they provided free medical
services and set upfirst aid station for the cemetery goers.
“Medical services included blood pressure
taking; assistance in taking prescribed medicine maintenance to the patients;and
first aid management for heat and sun stroke, shock, hyper ventilation, open
wound dressing, ice application for sprained ankle, and closed wound,” said En.
Aladdin B. Palanggalan, president and chief
executive officer of BARET, said he is elated that the city government of
Cotabato mapped out its plan earlier and did close coordination with
stakeholders to ensure a peaceful and orderly All Saints’ and All Souls’Days.
“Everything was in order. We’ve noticed the
mobile patrol units, traffic enforcers, and police personnel and medical teams
had been strategically posted all throughout the city,” said Palanggalan.
Palanggalan said the BARET was organized following
the call for mitigation and preparedness due to various natural and human
induced-disasters frequently experienced in the Bangsamoro homeland.
The team’s primary mission is to save the
greatest number of lives and minimize injuries to victims during emergency. It
is bound to gather more skilled individuals to share their expertise and serve
the people in need in time of calamities and/or preparedness.
“We would want to promote a culture of safety
and resilience as continuing investment in educating and training to transform
the thinking and practices of the people in the communities, establish
monitoring and response teams during emergencies and/or disasters, forge
linkages between and among local, national and international entities, and
attain and maintain a rational and orderly balance between socio-economic
growth and environmental protection through sustainable use of resources,
development, management and conservation of the Bangsamoro’s natural
resources,” said Palanggalan.
Palanggalan added that the team offers the
following programs and services: disaster risk reduction and management, food security,
emergency nutrition, training services, youth development, and humanitarian aide.
“Our emergency response unit includes medical
responders and the search and rescue or the SAR. For the SAR, it is composed of
two groups, the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and the Water Search and Rescue
(WASAR).
The USAR specializes in rescue by locating trapped persons in collapsed
structures and other entrapment due to natural disasters and collapsed
trenches, using standard array of tools, equipment, and supplies suitable for
teams at light, medium, and heavy operational levels.
The WASAR, on the other hand, specializes in rescue
skills on proper water entry, types of swimming, lifesaving, group survival,
water evolution, and knot tying,” said Palanggalan. (GILMHAR A. LAO - MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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