BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The “Bacolod 911 Ordinance,” or an ordinance establishing the Emergency Medical and Response Center of Bacolod City, will be implemented next year, executive assistant Jose Maria Vargas, head of the Bacolod City Risk Reduction Management Office said yesterday.
Vargas said the ordinance authored by Councilor Israel Salanga that was recently approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod will be a big help since its objective is to improve public safety and emergency response in Bacolod City.
It will also help centralize the operations of response teams in the city, he said citing for example that during accidents there are more than one ambulance that usually responds even when only one victim needs assistance resulting to loss of resources.
Vargas said he is one of the members of the technical working group created under the Bacolod 911 Ordinance.
Meetings will be conducted to come up with the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) in preparation for the implementation of the ordinance, he said.
Operators from the city will be trained to receive calls in case of emergency cases or accidents by next week, Vargas said.
The ordinance said there is also a need to establish a centralized system that will strengthen the emergency response of Bacolod City to further increase the survival rate of its constituents and maximize existing logistics and manpower.
It provides that the number designated for all emergency, medical, calamity, disaster, peace and order concerns is 911. The BDRRMO will appeal to network providers to make 911 calls from Bacolod City free to encourage indigent fellowmen to use the service.
The city will appropriate an initial budget of P500,000 to be taken from the DRRMO fund to defray all expenses it may occur to implement this ordinance, it added.*
