Feedback from Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) in the Philippines

One of the goals for the volunteer work through the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) was not only to offer the training and exercise evaluation locally, but also enable them to teach others and sustain the work we did this past summer.

It was great to offer training while we were there, but will they use these lessons to teach others?

Last week, we received the following email from a representative of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) in the Philippines.

"The activities that we've been through had greatly improved the level of preparedness, response and awareness of the government other private organizations. The Police Regional Office headed by BGen Andres G Caro II had ordered and directed last October that all Chiefs of Police of the 4 Provinces, 9 cities and 46 municipalities to undergo a 3-Day ICS and Crisis Management Training to enhance and improved their level of consequence management in any event. (We) were the main trainers for this.

All is well here and we really appreciate the lessons you imparted to us in the series of activities that we been through. Thank you......."

Thank You For Making A Difference

Prior to returning to the United States, we had the opportunity to receive several Certificates of Recognition. But also present certificates to the several hundreds of people we trained.



But the real recognition was knowing that our time here will have an impact on the other side of the world, in a developing region, with people who are truly amazing.



Pictured above with Mario Verner Monsanto Executive Officer of the Davao City Disaster Coordinating Council (DCDCC) and Central 911. Receiving a Certificate of Appreciation from Col. Monsanto and Rodrigo Duterte, City Mayor and Chairman of the DCDCC.


Picture above at the University of Mindanao, with representatives from the Council of Deans for IT Education and Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators Foundation.

Thank you again for all the gifts and also the official uniforms provided by Central 911, Davao City Disaster Coordinating Council, and official Office of Civil Defense/National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) hat.

Open-source system helps victims cope with disasters

During our time in the Asia Pacific, several folks have asked about the donation that IBM had made to the Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

"This is due to the cooperation between IBM Philippines and the National Disaster Coordinating Council, which came together in Guinsaugon to try out new equipment, as well as the Sahana open source disaster management system that IBM donated last year...

At Guinsaugon, the Sahana software helped NDCC and local officials keep track of the relief goods that came in droves for the victims. It also kept tabs of the location and number of victims in each temporary shelter set up around the affected area." (Infotech).


A demonstration of part of the Sahana solution can be found at:

http://demo.sahana.lk/

Turn On Your Lights for National Night Out, Then Shut it Off to Conserve Energy Around the World

As part of kickoff activities here in the Philippines and in preparation for National Night Out in the United States, I had the honor of presenting Mr. Edgar Salanio from the Regional Coordinating Council and Office of Civil Defense with a self powered led flashlight from back home.

Mr. Salanio spent some time in the United States and is a highly respected instructor in the Philippines. He teaches every major organization that would be impacted or respond to a disaster or major emergency. It has been an excellent opportunity to work side by side with him and everyone from RDCC and DCDCC.

I was presented with a hat from the National Disaster Coordinating Council and Office of Civil Defense.

Neighbors helping Neighbors, Locally and Around the World. This is truly friends making new friends to help others be better prepared. Once we return home, we look forward to Mr. Salanio providing regular articles to the Neighbors Helping Neighbors blog.

Additional information about National Night Out, which other countries may consider implementing, can be found at: http://www.nationaltownwatch.org/nno/

One Person and Two Sheets of Paper Can Make a Huge Difference

The first full day my team was here, we had the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of Samal Island. However, today was different, we had a full scale disaster (exercise).


In a recent water search and rescue tabletop exercise, while we identified there was an incident commander (IC), safety officer, public information officer, logistics, administration and individual sections.

I pointed out there was no 1 person responsible for operations. For other exercises, it was the IC who took this role.

However, if we look at span of control, where it is mentioned that only 3 to 5 people report to any one person, the IC can quickly get overwhelmed.

So, it was recommended that someone take the role of Operations Section Chief. This person was the "man on the scene" working with the IC and the teams.

The exercise and communications was much improved as a result of changing one persons role.

It is amazing the difference one person can make.

The IC and operations chief were both able to identify how many resources they had and were. The leaders at all levels knew how many people they had and accountability was not an issue with the responders.

For larger incidents, as mentioned in the debrief, consider two big sheets of paper, one with the ICS organizational chart along with who is in what role. And another that is a map of the location, you can see where the staging area is, where the incident is, traffic flows, etc. This is a very simple no cost tip that can have a big impact.

The only potential issue with accountability was with medical, when asked of medical, how many patients were arriving on the boat, they may have said 3. However, 5 patients got off the boat. It appears the potential breakdown in communication was there were 3 red patients, 1 green and 1 black. So, the 3 were the red victims.

So, while we often say, give only the information someone is asking you, in this case, it might make sense to say, there are 5 victims total, 3 red, 1 green, 1 black and 0 yellow.

Also, in an early posting, we discussed location, location, location, keep the medical area out of the sun. If you have a building and this is a disaster, take over the building as appropriate. As learned in previous drills, the medical area needs to be clearly identified along with sections for red, yellow, and green patients. This was done and has become second nature to these responders.

At the beginning of the drill was a real incident where they need to apprehend an illegal fishing vessel. The drill was delayed, this was taken care of. And then we proceeded.

One other suggestion would be the staging area. Folks here are very eager to respond, get close to the scene and "do the most good for the most number of people" and quickly. However, improved staging and a dedicated staging leader in the staging area will make the response even more effective. In some of the pervious exercises, there was a "roaming IC", this was corrected and did not occur during this drill.

As a recommendation to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, this group did an excellent job using the resources at hand. However, if we look at the number of victims in the exercise and the response time, it will quickly become clear that more assistance would be needed.

Those agreements should be in place and thoroughly understood and exercised before a disaster.

Again team, job well done! They have been very receptive to the recommendations and quick to implement them.

Pictured before are some of the responders who provided safety for the exercise, along with the Regional Coordinating Council.

Did you know that July is National Disaster Consciousness Month...

in the Philippines?


The Neighbors Helping Neighbors blog welcomes readers from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

National Disaster Consciousness Month recently kicked off in Davao City.

http://ndcc.gov.ph/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=1

This year's theme is "Pag Alerto, Malayo sa Peligro".

As part of the Corporate Service Corps, I will be in the Philippines, working with the Davao City Disaster Coordinating Council (DCDCC) and Central 911, including National Disaster Consciousness Month activities.