The PMO Misamis Oriental/Cagayan de Oro including its Terminal Management Offices (TMO) Camiguin, Opol and Balingoan participated in the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) for the 1st Quarter of CY 2019 on 21 February at 2:00 PM.
The said drill was aimed to test the efficiency and usefulness of the Offices’ response, recovery, and contingency plans; and their coordination and communication mechanism during response operation. The drill is also a means to promote awareness among employees and port stakeholders and equip them with the necessary knowledge, attitude, and practice in response to this disaster.
The members of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) convened first before the conduct of the drill for final run down of the operations, reminders, and final instructions to point persons.
The simulation was participated by a total of 563 participants including employees, passengers, security personnel, porters, staffs of shipping lines ticket outlets and other PTO holders, and construction personnel of the ongoing Passenger Terminal Building and Electronic Gate Complex projects at the Baseport. They executed the “Duck, Cover, and Hold” while the simulated earthquake indicated by a wailing of siren was ongoing for a minute. When the siren alarm stopped, the participants quickly evacuated the buildings towards the designated evacuation area for the headcount. Simultaneously, the supposed injured individuals were attended to for first aid. The Engineering Service Division personnel meanwhile conducted damage assessment and structural integrity inspection of port facilities.
A post-drill evaluation was conducted by ERT where positive observations and opportunities for improvement were noted. The next NSED is scheduled on 20 June 2019. —IMR Lam