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Red Cross turns over PHP.5M rescue equipment to Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Norte The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will turn over basic rescue equipment and first aid kits worth more than PHP 500,000 to six barangays in Agusan Del Sur and six barangays in Surigao Del Norte over the weekend. The turn over of rescue equipment is part of the PRC 5-year community capacity building project which started last year in partnership with Netherlands Red Cross, funded by Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, amounting to a total of PHP 75.6 million. The rescue and first aid equipment includes pick mattock, raincoats, medical supplies trauma jump kits, whistle, search light, megaphone, AM/DM Pensonic Radio, among others. The turn over ceremony will be led by PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon, PRC Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang, Netherlands Red Cross delegate Margot Steenbergen, and local Red Cross officers and government officials. The 12 barangays that will receive the rescue and first aid equipment have been identified by the Red Cross as the most disaster prone barangays in the two provinces. They are barangays Nueva Era, Mambalili, San Marcos, Langag, Hawilian and Guadalupe in Agusan Del Sur and barangays Tayaga, Magallanes, Urbiztondo, Tagbuyawan, Mansayao and Quezon in Surigao Del Norte. These barangays have also organized and trained Red Cross 143 volunteers in their respective communities. Red Cross 143 is the flagship volunteer program of PRC that recruits and trains 44 volunteers in every barangay – one leader and 43 members to serve as Red Cross humanitarian arms on the ground, especially in times of disasters and other emergency. Agusan Del Sur has 10, 759 Red Cross143 volunteers, while Surigao Del Norte has 16, 240 volunteers. Most of them have been mobilized during typhoons and other calamities. Some have donated their blood many times. Gordon thanked Netherlands Red Cross for their support and lauded the two local Red Cross chapters for being responsive and for their strong partnership with the community. "The best way to reach out to the community is to involve the community people themselves," Gordon said. "Red Cross 143 volunteers are the first to respond to disasters and report the situation to chapters and operation center at PRC headquarters, so we can do more, do better and reach further," Gordon stressed adding, "We need to have Red Cross 143 volunteers in all of the 42,000 barangays in the country." Other components of the 5-year community project are mitigation projects, training on disaster management, first aid and basic life support, disaster preparedness in school, community emergency drills, livelihoods support, development of Information and Education materials, and capacity building for chapters and project staff. Agusan Del Sur chapter will also hold a ceremonial turn-over of its newly-constructed Red Cross chapter building located on Government Center, Patin-ay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur. |