The Cebu City Police Office has activated its own Medical Response Team in case there is a need for additional men to assist the Bureau of Fire Protection and non-governmental volunteer organizations during disasters.
Because of the weather condition yesterday, Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, the city police director, activated the CCPO’s 18-member Medical Response Team and put it on “on-call”’ status.
Comendador admitted that his men are not that experienced compared to other emergency medical service units but they might be useful in the event of a major disasters.
The team is composed of policemen and policewomen who have undergone basic training on first aid, CPR and AR, and disaster management conducted by the BFP last month.
Comendador created the team after learning that many of his men do not know how to handle emergencies during disasters.
Disaster management managers, people who are trained to assess disasters, including that of vehicular accidents, before a second wave of rescuers can effectively deliver what things are really needed in the area.
Aside from the disaster aspect, the team is also organized to attend to minor injuries during their police work, Comendador said.— Edwin Ian Melecio/BRP