Cebu City officials express interest in purchasing a mobile incident command van equipped with the necessary gadgets to make emergency response more effective.
It was Councilor Gerardo Carillo who suggested that the city should purchase such kind of van after he attended a one-week seminar-workshop on disaster preparedness in Singapore recently.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama yesterday joined Carillo in viewing a similar command van displayed by Cebuano manufacturer Duke Echeverri in front of the new City Legislative Building.
Some other cities in Metro Manila, like Valenzuela and Caloocan, have already acquired the command medical van worth P9.5 million for their intensified campaigns against dengue.
“Clients ang mohatag og specification kun unsay mga equipment nga ibutang sa sulod. Ako maoy mohimo sa design, subject sa ilang approval,” Echeverri said.
Representatives of the Bureau of Fire Protection and the City Disaster Coordinating Council were also among those who inspected the van and even gave suggestions on how to improve its features.
The command van serves as center of operations in an emergency scene. It is equipped with tools in proper and prompt communications, and medical gadgets including metal cutters.
In other countries, command vans are equipped with mobile radio system and computer-aided dispatch capabilities for police stations, mobile phones with greater strength and reach and with satellite phone capability, as well as a wireless router for the Internet and landline phones. – Rene U. Borromeo/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)