DRRM Seminar

Disaster Risk Reduction is

EVERYONE'S BUSINESS

Disasters are considered natural in the 21st century but what does a disaster really do? What does it really mean? A disaster is any harm involving people, therefore, it is anything related to the destruction of life.

Last October 25, the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas held a Disaster Risk Reduction Management Program, Training, Seminar and Workshop as part of the National Civic Service Training Course offered to the university's second year students. Its main objective is to reach out to people and make them aware of the possible risks or calamities happening in our country. It our responsibility to know these things and to take action whenever it happens. There are compelling reasons why the Philippines should adopt disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM), it is because we are exposed to disasters and hazards due to its geography and geology as well as the presence of internal disputes in some areas. As a response to keeping the country safe, the university held this seminar.

As detailed in RA No. 10121., The overall vision is“safer, adaptive and disaster-resilient Filipino communities toward sustainable development.” It conveys a paradigm shift from reactive to proactive DRRM wherein men and women have increased their awareness, understanding on DRRM with the end in view of increasing people’s resilience and decreasing their vulnerabilities.

In the Seminar, Mr. Adrian Romero, our NSTP Facilitator and Mentor, discussed everything about the impacts of a disaster and what are its causes.

This included the definitions of hazard, risks, vulnerability or weaknesses, capacities and the different kinds of approach.

A hazard is any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone under certain conditions at work. Risk is the chance or probability that a person will be harmed or experience an adverse health effect if exposed to a hazard. It may also apply to situations with property or equipment loss. Weaknesses describe the factors of economic, social, physical or geographical nature which then reduces a person’s ability to protect himself from disasters. Capacities, on the other hand, are the strengths or available products or resources you can use against hazards.

A PCVA Workshop was conducted after the discussion about the concepts of Disaster Risk Reduction Management to assess certain hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities. Each group were able to list the hazards, vulnerabilities, capacities, and actions in their respective locations. In our group (C-AB-12, Group 1), earthquake (as a natural hazard), and flood (as an environmental hazard was common), especially the areas in Quezon City and Manila. Geographic and natural vulnerability was common since some areas were low in elevation and it was obviously crowded. Other than that, some areas were near the west valley fault. In terms of capacity, the presence of active barangay officials, sturdy foundations of buildings, and proper drainage system were among the advantages that are common in our group. In terms of acting upon the situation, the members of the group believed that there is a need to call for assistance. Also, it is also needed to store supplies such as food and any first aid kits in own houses or places. The group also did a hazard mapping wherein we drew our locations (which is in the National Capital Region) and plotted the sites where the hospitals, barangay halls, fire stations, etc. are located for easy access of help and evacuation in times of disasters.

During the seminar, to loosen up a bit, we played a game called "Bahay-Tao-Bagyo". In the game there are a group of 3 and the 2 will serve as the “bahay” and the one is on the middle paying the role of the “tao”. The “taya” will say “bahay-bagyo-tao” repeatedly as much as he/she wants and then he/she could choose whatever he/she likes in the given three words. If “tao” was said, all the players inside the house should move to find another house. If “bahay” then 2 players will have to move and find a new partner. If “bagyo” everything will be shuffled.The lesson of the game was to help us determine what each of the words meant to cause such destruction or change in a community.

First Aid and Basic Life Support were also taught in the seminar. Human bodies are susceptible to injuries, illnesses and trauma. We never know when any injury may happen to us or the people we love or those who are around us. Thus it is always good to have some amount of basic knowledge to take care of critical situations, to keep it from going from bad to worse or till the medical help arrives. Administering first aid to victims in the event of accidents, mishaps and occurrences during office and school hours or in the case of some accident is encouraged. One must know the basics of administering first aid and this knowledge is gained by getting trained.

CPR or Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure that is performed on people who are suffering from cardiac arrest. The purpose of CPR is to provide a flow of oxygenated blood to the brain until other procedures can be performed to restore the person's heartbeat and breathing. After more than about five minutes without oxygen, the human brain can suffer permanent damage, so this procedure increases a person's chances of making a full recovery. By itself, CPR is rarely enough for the person to survive, because it typically does not restore the person's heartbeat. Rather, this procedure typically is done as first aid to temporarily keep blood flowing to the brain until emergency responders arrive and can begin treating the person.

1. Compression – act of pushing hard on a person’s chest (center of the chest). Usually, 100 compressions are done per minute  with constant rhythm and tempo.

Reason: to pump the heart for resuscitation

Within 5 minutes that you weren’t able to give compression, the victim may die.

Within 10 minutes, the victim may not be revived anymore.

2. Airway – every minute, you must check the airway (if there’s air coming out of the person’s nostrils or mouth). For checking of airway, first, head tilt, then chin lift. If there is a liquid obstruction of airway (blood, vomit, phlegm), you shall let the obstruction spill. If it’s solid, use a clean handkerchief to take it out. Check also for rise and fall of the chest. If there’s an absence of it, do continuous compression.

3. Breathing – for strangers, you do not necessarily need to give “breathing”. This can be done to your family, relatives or people whom you personally know. First, you must clip the nose, inhale, then give breathing through the victim’s mouth.  The early sign of life may be in a form of breathing, rise and fall of the chest, and pulse. If any of these are present, you may stop the CPR especially if the hospital rescue team is already there. If ever the victim chokes, place one’s hand (firmly pulling) in upper abdomen until he vomits the solid substance.

Disaster risk reduction is the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and reduce the causal factors of disasters. Reducing exposure to hazards, lessening susceptibility of people and property, sagacious management of land and the environment, and ameliorating preparedness and early warning for adverse events are all examples of disaster risk reduction.

The purpose of the whole seminar was to address the underlying causes of people's vulnerabilities and to make us aware of what may possibly happen in the future. I, myself, enjoyed the day and considered it productive. The activity was an absolute success and we surely learned a lot.

References:
http://www.unisdr.org/who-we-are/what-is-drr
https://youtu.be/iugLHrcs_fM
http://drrknowledge.net/drr-scenario/
http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/program-highlights/cpr-first-aid