Gordon on students' safety: Predict, plan, prepare and practice

Senator Richard J. Gordon (Ind.) said that all students should learn to predict, plan, prepare and practice to ensure their safety against all kinds of security threats wherever they are.

During the first national student safety and school security conference at the World Trade Center, Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), said that to ensure students' safety and security the students themselves must learn what to do in every emergency situation.

"No one will take care of you better than yourself. You really have to learn to protect and take care of yourself. We at the Red Cross, we have volunteers in every barangay so that whenever there is a disaster they can learn to predict, they can plan, prepare and practice, so that they can cope, mitigate, relieve and eventually, rehabilitate," he told the students from different colleges in Metro Manila who were present at the conference.

The PNRC under Gordon's leadership has created the Red Cross 143, which is a group of volunteers in every barangay who will serve as the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the Red Cross in every community.

The duties of the members of the Red Cross 143 include: (1) Predict possible threats in the community; (2) Plan what to do in times of disasters; (3) Prepare the community for what it would need; (4) Practice or conduct first aid trainings and emergency evacuation drills; (5) Report instantly to the Red Cross pertinent information about the disaster; and (6) Respond immediately to those in need.

"It's the same thing in school, you have to anticipate what could happen--disasters like earthquake, or crimes such as robbery--so that you are able to protect and defend yourself. You have to learn to predict. You have to learn to plan your movement, learn how to defend yourself," he said.

Gordon also encouraged the students to be volunteers of the Red Cross so that they could be trained to conduct first aid treatment and be taught what to do during disasters.

"The youth should be involved in extra-curricular activities, and joining the Red Cross is an opportunity for you not only to learn other skills, but also to develop the values of kusang-loob, malasakit at kapwa tao," he said.