Police to undergo emergency situation training

https://youtu.be/m13jeuYzsbA

Video from YouTube

MANILA, Philippines—Police will undergo retraining to equip them with skills and knowledge needed to handle emergency situations like the recent shooting incident at SM Pampanga last month, PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome said Friday.

The remark came amid criticism the police and SM security personnel who responded when a 13-year-old boy shot his male friend last month, and then himself inside the mall could have done more to try to save the two.

A newly posted video on YouTube about the incident has been widely circulated in social networking sites like Facebook and has placed the police officers and security guards who responded to the incident in a bad light.

The video showed the victims sprawled on the shopping mall’s floor, with a man shooting photos even while one of the victims struggled to roll on his back. The police and security personnel were seen walking around the area but not moving the victims.

Bartolome defended the first responders in the shooting incident, saying that the viewers were not given a chance to see how the same officers eventually used “the only available vehicle, the patrol car” to bring the victims to the nearest hospitals.

“Hindi pinakita lahat ng video, sa unang naipakita… (parang) walang ginawa ang pulis at security guards… Mismong police vehicle ang ginamit to bring to the hospitals nung walang dumating na ambulance,” said the PNP chief, adding that the officers had even made a “makeshift stretcher”.

As part of procedure in emergency situations, Bartolome said that police are first tasked to assess what has happened and check the extent of the victims’ injuries. In the case of the SM Pampanga shooting incident, he said that the victims’ conditions were “very sensitive dahil may tama ng baril… usually dapat maghintay ng paramedics.”

Bartolome said that although police and security guards are trained to handle first aid, it is not applicable to all emergency cases.

“Those properly trained are the ones needed for emergency situations,” he said.

Bartolome said the police were compelled to rush the teenagers to the hospital after the paramedics failed to reach the mall on time.

He said that the police force would undergo trainings by batches, focusing on personnel who were usually the first responders in such incidents.

Bartolome said that separate trainings on emergency situations, although not part of the planned program for the enhancement of skills under his 10-point action plan, would have to be conducted.

At the same time, he said he would recommend that shopping malls and other crowded establishments have an emergency unit composed of officers trained to tend to victims, so that response would be immediate in such situations.