by: Bobby Manzano, President & Executive Director, OSP
They stayed in ground zero for three days, setting up base
in the Philippine National Red Cross tent in the town proper and sortieing to three
of the worst hit barangays: Lambajon, Binondo and Poblacion.
Working in shifts (spelling each other out just enough for
a quick meal, a quick rest and a quick bath), they administered treatment to
1,189 victims.
One of the victims they treated was Joanna, 5, who was suffering
from severe dehydration. They had just disembarked
from the truck that ferried them from Mati and were stretching their cramped
limbs after the two-hour drive, when the Red Cross volunteers brought in an
unconscious Joanna.
Joanna was in critical condition. Her vital signs were
weak. She was hardly breathing, her lips
were parched and her skin had taken on a greyish pallor. The sight of her
nearly lifeless body stirred everybody to action. All the training and years of experience from
countless Operation Smile missions kicked in and they had Joanna on an IV line
and connected to a pulse oximeter and monitor in a matter of minutes. Joanna recovered.
Gian Trebol, our mission coordinator who flew from Manila
to join the team, said it was a joy to see our volunteers in action. Everyone knew his or her role without being
told. They wasted no motion. All
throughout their stay, the Red Cross volunteers stood in awe of them.
Another group of doctors and nurses relieved our
volunteers after three days. Before
leaving, our team joined the beleaguered Baganga residents in celebrating the
traditional Yuletide dawn mass in the town church. They distributed their unused medical
supplies to the other relief organizations and then shared a last meal of
canned goods and bottled water before boarding a truck for home.
I salute our Davao volunteers for initiating this relief
operation. They did Operation Smile proud!
Operation Smile colleagues, wherever you are in the
world, please give a warm round of applause to these 28 volunteers who carried our
flag with so much pride and honor:
1. Dr. Joselito Cembrano
2. Dr. Nicole Silkofski
3. Dr. Dan Malate
4. Dr. Patrick
5. Dr. Martha Ofalla
6. Dr. Ellen Borje
7. Dr. Gierto Quevedo
8 Carmencita Tan, RN
9. Jess France
10. Nikki Dominique Sumogat, RN
11. Dr. Fiona Zaragoza
12. Yaser Darondigon, RN
13. Michelle Collarte, RN
14. Aries Bon C. Golez, RN
15. Teddy Palma Gil
16. Larry Baluso
17. Gian Trebol
18. Dr. Carlos T. Capitan II
19. Mrs. Shirley Capitan
20. Charisse Capitan
21. Dr. Cherry Porras Dela Serna
22. Dr.
Sherii Villarosa
23. Malani
Fonseke
24. Amirah
Tan Lin Ling
25. Theresa
Kintanar, RN
26. Renante Napolan, RN
27. Jaymar Tan, RN
28. Maiki Ferrazzini
As in any Operation Smile undertaking, there
are lessons from this relief operation. My
takeaways are:
1. the
pulse oximeters are invaluable; we should carefully plan our program of
donation of these equipment with Lifebox Foundation;
2. the
skill sets of our volunteers lend themselves to relief operations; we could
initiate a special program that would enable Operation Smile Philippines to
send a quick reaction team to disaster areas; and
3. as
natural calamities become more frequent and severe, EMT capabilities assume
greater importance; we can restart the previous program we had with the Rescue
911 group and provide the training to local government rescue organizations.
Our journey continues.
