The city government here is targeting the youth to become emergency responders with the launch of the Kabataang Emergency Champions program of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) and the Technical Institute of Iloilo City (TIIC).

TIIC Administrator Maria Mathilde Treñas said the program is open to youth aged 15 to 35 years.

“We target them because they are still young, and they can easily respond in times of emergency,” she said in an interview on Tuesday.

The training, which will be handled by the TIIC, will run for 40 hours, after which the youth will have an on-the-job training with industry partners to make sure they are capable of responding to emergencies, Treñas added.

The training content covers an introduction to disaster risk reduction and emergency medical response, disaster preparedness, and basic emergency medical response training on first aid, life support, and evaluation.

“We have an ongoing training on emergency medical response at the TIIC, so we will maximize it so that in times of emergency, we will not panic because we have our youth who can help us,” Treñas said.

She added the training is based on the regulations of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

On Monday, the TIIC, SK, and the city government signed a memorandum of agreement to seal the partnership for the program.

SK Federation president Jelma Crystel Implica said she is honored to be part of the initiative to capacitate Ilonggo youths to become primary emergency responders in their community.

“This is a great platform that can encourage our youth to be more participative citizens in DRRM (disaster risk reduction and management) training, for them to become aware and prepared in mitigation and response,” she said. (PNA)