Nothing to do this summer? Why not train to save lives?
The Philippine Red Cross, the country’s largest humanitarian arm, is offering first aid, basic life support training and humanitarian law – related courses through its Summer Safety institute (SSI).
A program of the PRC’s Safety Services, SSI aims to educate and train people from different age groups in various lifesaving courses.
SSI director Von Ryan Ong said that aside from first aid and basic life support training, the institute also offers courses like basic swimming, water safety, and rescue and lifeguarding.
Ong said that the P2,000 to P4,000 cost per package that allows enrollees to learn about first aid, basic life support
and training, also allows them to attend various scheduled workshops related to the PRC’s other service arms like health, disaster management, blood donation and volunteerism, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and the Red Cross Youth (RCY).
Four-week training
There are also courses on ambulance operation, rope rescue, standard disaster risk reduction management training, IHL information dissemination, blood facilitators workshop, psychosocial support program and expressive arts, public health in emergency, basic volunteer orientation, and RCY trainings to further involve the youth.
The cost of the training, which runs for four weeks, may vary depending on the chapter, Ong said. In the National Capital Region, there are eight PRC chapters that have their own SSI, he added.
On the average, each chapter caters to some 100 to 200 enrollees in the summer program.
“We are taking advantage of the summer season and the school break so that more kids can enroll,” Ong said.
Certificate courses
The certificate courses can also be used for future employment, he added. “The Department of Labor and Employment would require courses like basic life support, while lifeguarding skills are very useful abroad.”
In December, the PRC was accredited by the Professional Regulatory Commission to offer continuing professional development courses.
The proceeds of the PRC summer program will go to the organization and its humanitarian efforts and programs.
For more information, visit the PRC website (www.redcross.org.ph) to find the PRC chapter nearest you. Registration is still ongoing. —Jodee A. Agoncillo