BBBNHS JOINS 2nd QUARTER NSED

Earthquake is one of the famous disasters that caused people died or injured. It cannot be detected when and where it would be happened to anyone. This is mostly happened in places where people are hanging around and working. Earthquake is understood by being a natural phenomenon caused by the constant movements of the earth’s crustal plates and due to climate change too.

Connectively, Bagong Barrio National High School-Main joined in the 2nd Quarter National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill last June 21, 2018 at exactly 2 o’clock in the afternoon with the official hashtag #BidaAngHanda.

The Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) is a quarterly National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)-led activity that seeks to educate the public on disaster preparedness against earthquakes, showcase government capability on disaster response, and test the contingency plans of local disaster risk reduction and management councils (LDRRMCs).

Prior to the event, Mrs. Catherine T. Galvez, SDRRMC Coordinator, conducted the plan and coordinated with the local DRRMC (BLGU and CDRRMC). She also made the committee in coordination with the school principal, Mr. Ferazim R. Dannug, to facilitate the said drill. The committee are as follows; Security Committee, First Aid Committee, and Communication/Documentation Committee which were headed by Mrs. Gigi P. Lazaro, Mrs. Ma. Victoria E. Manlapaz and Mrs. Airene L. Olaño. In addition, the BERT officers also cooperated on the event to make it more successful. All members of the team were responsible for the proper observance on how the students responded to a certain disaster like earthquake.

Before the actual drill, Mrs. Ma. Annalyn Nagayo-Cui, Member, Early Warning Committee, conducted an orientation. She disseminated the information about the occurrence of earthquake as well as the needs to carry out a drill to enhance the students’ awareness on the safety measures before, during and after the earthquake.

The drill started with the ceremonial tapping of the bell where the students from Grade 9 Level together with their teachers followed strictly the three important things during an earthquake. These were the ducking, covering and holding, watching out for falling objects, and keeping calm and avoiding panic. Truly, they did their best to portray their roles especially the proper action and response during earthquakes. More so, the parents and canteen staff participated in the evacuation procedure.

After the drill, an evaluation was done by Dr. Lilibeth Agnes R. Lisondra, Team Leader, Transportation Committee and from the Bureau of Fire Protection (Bagong Barrio) FSINSP Marck Christopher B. Pilla. The team congratulated the participants for the job well done. Several suggestions were given by the council to improve the students’ and teachers’ performance on the emergency evacuation procedures and to ensure a safe and orderly evacuation in order to prevent loss of lives and injuries especially if real earthquakes will occur.

Some suggestions given were:

1. Teachers should be the last one to go out of the classroom to ensure that all occupants of the room are evacuated.

2. Students must stay calm in case there is an occurrence of earthquake.

3. A buddy-buddy system should be applied by the students.

4. Earthquake drills should be done quarterly to ensure that the students, teachers, and other stakeholders are ready in case there is an earthquake.

The drill participated with 1, 380 students and school personnel.

The drill lasted for 2 minutes and 34 seconds. No untoward incident happened during the drill.