ICS and CERT Training On The Other Side Of The World - Still The Same Message

Pictured above is Col. Mario Verner Monsanto, Chief Operations Officer, Central Communications and Emergency Response Center (Central 911) and Executive Officer of the city Disaster Coordinating Council. He presented an orientation on disaster management and introduced my sessions.

We had the opportunity to present the following classroom based courses:

• IS-100 Introduction to the Incident Command System
• IS-200 ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS-700 National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training

As many of the participants are already experienced responders, there was limited focus on the hands on portion of the class.

We joked that I was transported to the training via a motorcade, as pictured below.

In attendance were representatives from Central 911 leadership, City Disaster Coordinating Council, Philippines National Red Cross, United Nations, barangay, multiple rescue groups, church based organizations, and other representatives.

Part of the discussions were about working together.

A challenge was presented to all the barangay to spend 1 hour with another barangay response team in an informal setting. Doing something like basketball or anything. This would provide the opportunity for neighbors to get to know neighbors as their barangay are right next to each other. A very simple challenge with a year for them to complete. Everyone agreed that even getting people together for this type of training and really getting to know each other goes a long way.