Davao’s Central 911 serves as model for national counterpart

DAVAO CITY – Given the sterling record of the Central 911 emergency response department here, the head of the Davao’s 27/7 police, fire, search and rescue, and medical team said his office was willing to assist its nationwide counterpart, which rolled out on August 1.

According to Central 911 Chief Emmanuel Jaldon, the 14-year-old Davao emergency response unit was ready to help the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the effective and efficient implementation of the 911 system at the national level.

Speaking during a meeting with members of the National Literacy Coordinating Council on Wednesday afternoon, Jaldon said the Central 911 team was also prepared to provide inputs and training to the personnel of the 911 national office.

Launched on September 27, 2002 by then Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, Central 911 became the first emergency response system in the Philippines and Asia, and was only the third in the world after the United States and Canada.

Central 911 has its own fire auxiliaries, search and rescue teams, and K9 units that are seamlessly coordinated with Davao’s police and emergency medical services.

It operates 24/7 and utilizes the Emergency Computer Aided Dispatch (ECAD), a computerized mapping system that allows authorities to locate the origin of the distress call and tracks police response time to emergency calls.

“This is a basic kind of service that we must have,” Jaldon said. “You can’t be globally competitive if you don’t have a system like this in place.”

He also said that the national 911 “needs a little more time to be able to operate efficiently as a highly computerized and fully integrated emergency and rescue dispatch system that will link Filipinos to the entire emergency resources of the government wherever they may be.”

“There are still lots of areas that need to be improved. Just give it a little more time and everything will fall into place,” he said.