Israelis to train disaster responders

CEBU, Philippines - Filipino law enforcers and emergency responders will get training from the Israeli government in a six-week workshop that started yesterday.

The training was made possible by Israel’s Agency for International Cooperation and Development, through the Embassy of Israel in Manila and will run from April 25 to 30.

The Mass Event and Disaster Preparedness Workshop will train first responders in terms of disaster preparedness and handling of  Mass Casualty Incidence (MCI). It will be held at the Montebello Villa Hotel.

Chosen participants are disaster responders from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Red Cross, Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation-Cebu,  Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office of Cebu City and Cebu Province, and the Coast Guard, among others.

Colonel Yehiel Kupershtein, head of the Physical Protection Department and Head of Doctrine and Development Department in the Home Front Command and a certified search and rescue team member, is among the speakers of the event.

‘We come here and share what are our experiences in disaster management, especially in terrorist attacks,” said Kupershtein.

Kupershtein added that a terrorist attack is not different from any kind of disaster in that it claims many lives.

He added that they also want to learn from the country’s experience, saying that the Philippines fa=ces much bigger disasters compared to Israel.

The five-day event will teach identification of key players in disasters, triage in MCI, simulations, site management, command and control exercise, search and rescue, forensic medicine, victim identification, tabletop drills, mass communication, establishment of cooperative doctrine and protocols and many more.

As a recipient of the training, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office operations head Alvin Santillana said the workshop is set to enhance the handling of MCI in Cebu.

“We will surely learn from their modules because Israel is known for MCI handling since they have experienced several bombing incidents and their communication strategies is also something we have to learn,” Santillana said.

Immediately after super typhoon Yolanda ravaged northern Cebu last year, the Israeli government sent its first responders and medical teams to setup a tent hospital in Bogo City. —/BRP (FREEMAN)