CMDI conducts Disaster Response and Safety Skills Training for staff and students

Selected staff and college students of CARD-MRI Development Institute, Inc. (CMDI) learned vital skills during the “School-based Disaster Response and Safety Skills Training” facilitated by the Rescue 177 Training Center on February 19, 2018 at the CMDI auditorium and school building.

The whole day program focused on the basic rescue training, which included topics on bomb threat and terrorism awareness. Also, the Rescue 177 team demonstrated basic life support skills including first aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), swimming and proper breathing, firefighting, and rappelling to effectively escape from danger.

Moreover, the activity aimed to reduce the adverse effects of disasters, strengthen the resilience of school communities, and enhance people’s knowledge and skills in saving lives.

“What we do is part of our compliance on the 2017 memorandum released by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which requires schools to annually conduct and integrate disaster preparedness in the academic curriculum,” said Ms. Rona Angulo, CMDI Program Officer. “This kind of training is CMDI’s way to ensure students’ welfare and maintain a safe and sound school environment,” she added.

According to Mr. Crisdel Falculan, Director of Rescue 177, which is based in Valenzuela City, actual or experiential learning is the effective strategy to accelerate learning and bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Students signified that they will apply what they have learned in real life scenarios. “I will share this knowledge to my friends and family to secure their lives,” expressed Menchie Dacillo, staff and college student.

Indeed, the participants appreciated the training session. Edel Arban, another staff-student participant expressed, “Thank you very much for providing a comprehensive training. This is very important to us.”

Simulations
The Rescue 177 team demonstrated first aid methods, particularly the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and proper handling of injured patients.

Escaping from danger
The Rescue 177 team discussed and demonstrated proper rappelling and swimming techniques as initial survival response to incidents of terrorism, bombing, and burning buildings or sea vessels.

Experiential learning
Participants were given a hands-on experience on the disaster response and safety skills activities.

By Dianne B. Ubaldo; Photos by Robielyn Villamor