SBMA firefighters train LGUs, firms in rescue operations

By Allen M. Villa

Friday 13th of July 2012

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, July 13 (PIA) -- Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) firefighters trained search and rescue teams from local government units (LGU) and businesses located in the Freeport on July 2 to 7.

A 24-member team from Valenzuela participated in the seminar on Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue (CSSR).

Team leader Maria Alona Ada said the CSSR seminar was crucial to their work, as they strive to be one of the fastest teams to respond to search and rescue missions in Metro Manila.

“The training was both exciting and exhausting, but we really wanted to have that kind of training because as an auxiliary rescue unit in Metro Manila, we need it for our operation and in preparation for calamities like earthquakes,” she added.

The team intends to re-echo their newly acquired skills after the training to barangay rescue units in Valenzuela City, Ada said.

SBMA Fire Chief Ranny Magno said Valenzuela City was the first to take the CSSR training among the LGUs who expressed interest to avail themselves of the special search and rescue training.

He said the team even brought with them their self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (Scuba). The SBMA only provided materials like stretchers and on-site training paraphernalia for actual demonstrations during the course.

Magno said the SBMA firefighting and rescue team recently completed a seminar, during the Disaster Preparedness Month this July, on Hazadous Material Awareness (Hazmat) using fully encapsulated Level A gas suits with certified Hazmat responder and instructor Nathan Russel.

Russel, who served as a firefighter in Australia for six years, agreed to hold the seminar at no cost to the SBMA.

Magno said the SBMA intends to make Hazmat awareness training a free port-wide project. His team has already started making a list and has been collecting samples of chemicals used by companies in the Subic Bay Freeport to make identifications easier especially during crisis.

Members of the SBMA Law Enforcement Department and the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department will also undergo Hazmat seminars on July 30 and 31. They are most likely to be exposed to various kinds of chemicals when responding to incidents and catastrophic occurrences.

The Hazmat seminar will also be conducted among fire brigades at both the Taiwanese-owned Subic Bay Gateway Park and the Japanese-owned Subic Techno Park.

Magno added that although the SBMA Fire Department does not have enough equipment and special suits required in responding to chemical-related incidents, “at least our men are equipped with all the safety precautions and knowledge that they would need in handling such incidents.”

Magno also said that he looks forward to having local rescue teams as partners in rescue operations and utilize their skills in responding to critical situations inside the Subic Bay Freeport. (CLJD/AMV-PIA3)