THE Philippines, through the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), has enhanced its technical cooperation with Canada by conducting a five-day training exchange with the Canadian Disaster Assistance Response Team (Canadian DART) recently.
This initiative aimed to equip the OCD Rapid Deployment Team (RDT) with essential skills in areas such as collapsed structure search and rescue, water search and rescue, and medical emergency management, as part of the Philippines’ effort to achieve international certification under the International Search and Rescue Group (INSARAG).
OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno expressed gratitude for this collaboration, emphasizing the office’s role in enhancing the Philippines’ disaster response capabilities and aligning with global standards to better protect communities during crises.
“We are very thankful to our Canadian counterpart for providing us some important knowledge about reacting to any future disaster,” Nepomuceno said.
“The five-day training exchange from January 27 to 31 was beneficial to our response and rescue team,” he added. “By enhancing our technical knowledge, it gives us more time to save lives during times of calamities and disasters.”
During the exchange, Canadian DART shared valuable insights from wildfire deployments, including their readiness to help the Philippines in future forest fire incidents.
The training also highlighted the OCD RDT’s effective water filtration systems, crucial for ensuring safe water during typhoons.
