Mountain Tigers Search & Rescue Bacolod conducted basic training on Disaster Awareness and Prepa
A quote from Wendy Mogel “Real protection means teaching children to manage risks on their own, not shielding them from every hazard” This is the philosophy behind MTR’s thrust on reaching out with our young learners on teaching them on what to do in times of disasters and emergencies. Last January 26, 2018 MTR Bacolod was invited to talk on the basics of earth quake and fire drills scenarios to the students, parents and teachers of Mansilingan Day Care.
With eager eyes the children welcomed the crew; we were introduced one by one by the teacher. The rescuers were sphere headed by MTR Unit Commander Brian Dela Torre who was the main speaker of the said event. The participating Mountain Tigers Search and Rescue Bacolod members were Deputy Commander Reynold Diosana, Chief Medic Karlo Villadelgado, Operation Commander Gerald B. Buelba, MTR Secretary Antonette M. Villanueva, MTR Board Abraham Villanueva and yours truly for the documentation of the said undertaking.
The talk started informing the Day Care folks of what earthquake and fire is, their nature, what to expect when it hits them, and basic things to do. The listeners were given a simple earthquake scenario. Participants were asked to hide under their tables and most specially cover and protect their heads. Everyone actively participated on the drill. They were asked to fall in line and slowly exited the classroom to a safe area outside the institution compound while guided by the rescuers.
The activity did not end with earthquake management. The next activity was how to prevent fire on different scenarios. They were taught on the nature and direction of the smoke. One will a better survival when going out through crawling instead of standing up in a burning room. Participants were taught on how to put off a fire when their clothes were engulfed with it. They were asked to kneel, drop and roll. Kids had fun doing it, but you can really see through their faces how amazed they were that they can control the fire by doing so. A fire drill was simulated and again participants were asked to line up as they exited the classroom. The head teacher was made to make a candid headcount of the students and what to do always when such tragedy strike.
The rescue team also showed how to stop a fire using a cloth on preventing oxygen to be an agent of combustion by simply covering the subject burning, how to turn off the fire using a fire extinguisher was stressed more to the parents and faculty. Should fire extinguishers malfunction or will not work, a simple bucket brigade was suggested to be done. On this activity, the parents took part as they made a relay of bucket of water until they extinguished the controlled fire simulation at the back field area of the said training facility. The students watched as the conflagrating subject succumbed to the series of splashed water. The short simulation training ended with everyone including the Mt. Tigers Search and Rescue team on candid pictorial.
A few days later, the team had the chance to pass by on some kids on the streets of Mansilingan and one of them pointed on us and loudly said to the kids “Look they are the mountain tigers!” We can see on their faces how glad they were on seeing us walk by. One of the kids loudly told us that he knows now how to stop a fire. We asked him how and he showed it to us. We were amazed that the kid knew the steps on how to stop a fire using a cloth. The team looked at each other and knew that our patience on teaching these young minds paid off more than any compensation a man could receive. For we know that our goal to make one rescuer in each family is on the making, and we are taking this challenge one step at a time.
