Iloilo mass-casualty drill tests W. Visayas emergency response

By Mariela Angella Oladive

ILOILO CITY – Nearly 300 emergency responders, health workers, disaster personnel, and volunteers tested Western Visayas’ capacity to handle mass-casualty and chemical incidents during a full-scale simulation exercise in Barangay Pakiad, Oton, Iloilo, on Sept. 9.

The drill, staged as PROJECT MedX: Western Visayas Emergency Medical Simulation Exercise (SimEx), simulated a chemical hazard and a mass-casualty road crash.

Responders carried out scene safety, search and extrication, chemical risk management, triage, emergency medical response, and patient transport.

The Asia-Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-PAD) Philippines led the exercise in partnership with the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), the municipal government of Oton, the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute, and UP Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Health (DRRM-H).

Athea Peñaloza, executive director of A-PAD Philippines, said the exercise sought to strengthen cooperation among organizations involved in emergency response.

“We are not here to boast that we are perfect in response. Rather, we are here to understand and learn how we can complement each other during emergencies,” Peñaloza said.

Retired Police Col. Cornelio Salinas, head of the Iloilo PDRRMO, commended the exercise, describing it as a necessary undertaking.

“We can see in this SIMEx the relationship of the responders, municipal DRRMOs and hospitals, how to handle patients, what are the protocols, and at the same time the state of readiness of the hospitals in case of mass casualty such as road accidents,” Salinas said.

Salinas expressed hope that similar exercises could be conducted in other areas.

The hazardous materials component required teams to identify chemical risks, establish safety perimeters, and manage contaminated patients while protecting emergency personnel and nearby communities.

Forty community members, including youth volunteers and barangay health workers, served as simulated casualties requiring rapid assessment, treatment, and transport.

More than 30 organizations from government, disaster response, health care, academe, volunteer groups, and the private sector took part in the exercise.

The simulation was designed to test how responders and health facilities coordinate during complex emergencies involving multiple casualties and potential chemical exposure, and to expose coordination gaps before an actual incident occurs.

Western Visayas now comprises five provinces — Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo — following the transfer of Negros Occidental to the Negros Island Region in 2024, a reconfiguration that altered the region’s disaster response and hospital referral arrangements.

A-PAD is a regional network that links private sector, government, and civil society actors in disaster response across Asia, with national platforms operating in several countries in the region.