With the goal of preparing the school administrators, faculty, personnel, and students in natural disasters that may occur, the University of Saint Louis joined in the 2019 Second Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) on June 20.

At 2 o’ clock in the afternoon, the one-minute alarm rang and the Louisian community observed the “duck, cover and hold” in their respective classrooms and offices.

After the alarm, employees and students evacuated their respective places and proceeded to the Sports Field, the designated evacuation area.  Post-earthquake precautionary measures were facilitated by the ALERT (Active Louisian Emergency Response Team) volunteers and floors-in-charge.

The last activity was the high-angle rescue simulation where a maintenance staff member volunteered to act as the victim.

Dr. Rina M. Reyes, the Vice President for Administration, gave her words of gratitude to the representatives of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), the Provincial DRRMO, and the Philippine National Police (PNP), for stirring awareness and preparing Louisians for natural disasters.

The said agencies did the evaluation of the simulation, and feedback was given to Fr. Renillo H. Sta. Ana, CICM, University President; Mrs. Luisa B. Aquino, Institutional Development and Quality Assurance Officer; and Mr. Bryan T. Urita, ALERT Chair.

Prior the drill, preliminary orientation on Basic Emergency Responses was conducted by the BFP in the University’s Friendship Park on June 19.

City Fire Marshall Pedro Espinosa and Chief for Community Relations Unit Monalisa De Guzman enlightened the Louisian community on fire ignition cases and fire equipment trends. They also demonstrated the proper way to handle fire extinguishers and the right approach to suppress fire in cases of gas leak and liquid fire.

Louisians participated in return demonstrations by extinguishing a fire and manually closing a tank.

This was followed with an Earthquake Drill orientation at the Bulwagang Andres Nowe by Mr. Raffy Camacho of the CDRRMO. Some members of the Extended Advisory Board and other heads of offices, select non-teaching personnel, and select students attended the orientation.