BASIC LIFE SUPPORT. Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) in the Municipality of Sibalom undergo training on Basic Life Support (BLS) on April 16, 2023. Melanie Raymaro, Sibalom BHW Association president, said in an interview Thursday (April 20, 2023) that Balikatan's Cooperative Health Engagement had capacitated them to respond to emergencies. (PNA photo courtesy of Melanie Raymaro)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (MDRRMO) of the municipality of Sibalom is planning to reecho to barangay DRRM council, responders and schools their newly acquired skills from joining the cooperative health engagement (CHE) activities of the Balikatan 2023.
"After our training, I intend to already conduct a review of the newly acquired skills among the emergency responders so that we could reecho the training in the barangays and schools," said Sibalom MDRRMO head Joel Odango said in an interview Thursday.
He said that they will be using the barangay disaster fund for the trainings that they intend to start next month.
A CHE team also visited his office on Wednesday to inquire about emergency response equipment that they need, he added.
Some 46 members of the local DRRMO and 48 barangay health workers (BHWs) of the municipality of Sibalom were among the recipients of the two-day cooperative health engagement (CHE) activities of the Balikatan 2023 held on April 16-17.
The training focused on Psychological First Aid and Basic Life Support while there was also a Common Oral Diseases and Oral Hygiene and Women's Awareness seminar conducted by the CHE team of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Medical Inter-operability Training (MIT) Team of the US Army with the help of the 61st Infantry (Hunter) Battalion and 3rd Civil-Military Operations Battalion at the Sibalom Evacuation Center.
"We were trained on Basic Life Support (BLS), effective tourniquet, airway management, and tactical combat casualty care," Odango said.
Melanie Raymaro, Sibalom BHW president, said in a separate interview that they are just waiting for the plan of the Municipal Health Office for them to cascade their training to members of their families and people in the community.
The activities were part of the ongoing Humanitarian Civic Assistance of the Balikatan 2023, including the Engineer Civic Action Project (ENCAP), Community Relations (ComRel), and Civil Affairs.
A multipurpose building is now being constructed at the Inabasan Elementary School in Barangay Inabasan, Sibalom under the ENCAP that will serve as a temporary shelter for abused children in the province.
Balikatan is an annual bilateral exercise between the AFP and the USAF Indo-Pacific Command that aims to strengthen the capacity and competencies of both forces in the spectrum of military operations, such as counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster response. (PNA)
