Bohol rescue team wins award in NY

TAGBILARAN CITY — Bohol’s first response team bagged the Quality Award on Gold Category during the Business Initiative Directions (BID) International Quality Convention in New York. Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II and Mark Sidney Du Galia, head of Emergency Management Division in Bohol received the award on behalf of the Telephone and Radio System Integrated Emergency Response (TaRSIER) 117. The two received the award on behalf of Gov. Edgar Chatto and the personnel of TaRSIER 117. TaRSIER 117 is the first response system of Bohol responding to calamities and emergency situations. The system was launched in 2011 as Bohol’s response to the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010. It acts as the operational arm of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. The award symbolizes a mark of excellence with the belief in the philosophy of continuous improvement, or those organizations which have become drivers of innovation. The BID recognized the effort of TaRSIER 117 to tread a path of continuous quality learning, which has become a catalyst for the benefit of the community where the system operates. The TaRSIER system has four bases in the province with a main command center located the Governor’s Mansion. The command center receives calls for emergencies such as police, medical, or fire assistance. The system also has capabilities to do weather monitoring and advice local governments in the event of the need to do forced evacuations. The organization also provides technical trainings to other quick response units located in other towns in the province. (Dave Albarado)