Police to public: Keep calm if caught in a bomb blast

What will you do if a bomb explodes near you inside a mall?

Don’t panic and clear your mind so you can a safe exit.

This was the advice of Chief Insp. Clark Arriola, chief of the Mabolo Police Station in Cebu City, to the public after conducting a bomb simulation exercise in Ayala Center Cebu yesterday morning.

“If you panic, there will be a lot of people running, which may cause a stampede. So we have to be calm and call the nearest security officer in sight,” he said.

After yesterday’s activity, Arriola said there are areas that still need to be addressed.

“We have to have a command post. Our medical units didn’t also have an overall supervisor so they were divided,” he said.

Arriola also said that there is a need to consider traffic when responding to emergencies.

“Next time, we can schedule a simulation exercise where there is heavy traffic so that we can assess the response time of the different units,” he said.

Retired colonel Ed Layese, security manager of Cebu Holdings Inc., said they already upgraded their equipment in the mall after the series of bombings in some parts of the country.

“We bought more gear for our security officers. We also installed exit signs in the cinemas, not only above but also below so that when people will take cover on the ground, they will be guided even while crawling out,” Layese said.

Aside from the police, also present during the bomb simulation exercise were personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Central Command, explosive and ordnance disposal team, Bureau of Fire Protection 7, and the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, among others.

Cebu City Police Office Director Joel Doria said that other police stations in the city need to conduct their own simulation exercises.

“All of our stations are directed to conduct simulation exercises regularly. We conduct these exercises precisely to know what needsto be improved,” he said. /