City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) chief Raymond del Rosario announced yesterday the creation of the task force, saying that “San Fernando is among the six local government units in Central Luzon that has been chosen to create a task force in charge of responding to structural collapse in their respective areas.
“They may also provide assistance in Metro Manila in the occurrence of an earthquake,” he added.
The initial task force is composed of CDRRMO personnel Jayson Mallari, Erwin Manese,Mark Russel Dimla, Bhryan Rivera and Hanzel Cruz.
Del Rosario said the city’s task force, together with representatives from the cities of Olongapo, Cabanatuan and the disaster management officials of Pampanga, Tarlac and Bulacan underwent a CSSR training course in Tarlac City from July 16 to 24 in the field of rescuing earthquake victims.
He said the training was supervised by the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council through the Office of the Civil Defense.
Hanzel Cruz, member of the San Fernando CSSR task force, said they were trained in “organizing and starting a CSSR operation, structural triage and the INSARAG (International Search and Rescue Advisory Group), operational safety as well as methods and techniques for searching and locating, shoring, lifting and stabilizing loads and extricating trapped victims.”
