Life-saving colors

By RODRIGO S. VICTORIA, PIA 8
January 20, 2011

The untimely death of couple, Marcos Maestre, 52 years old and his wife Veneranda, 49 years old of Brgy Paypayon, Oras, Eastern Samar due to drowning as their boat capsized after it was swept away by rampaging waters on their way home from Sitio Tapol, Brgy Agsam, was among in the recent lists of casualties in Eastern Visayas brought by flooding and landslide that hit the region.

Death toll like what the Maestre couple suffered would not happened and could be prevented not because of the aid of sophisticated early warning device or system used by weather bureaus in times of weather disturbances or in the event a public storm signal is hoisted, but a color is enough to save lives if people in the community are better informed what it meant.

Each color has its own distinct meaning and interpretation depending on how we use and apply it and on the way how each individual perceived it to be.

White generally means peace and purity and black to many is a color of death or something resembles that ominous things are coming.

But unknown to many of us, much more to ordinary layman at the grassroots, colors play a significant role in giving warning in the first place and generally save lives in times of any types of disasters and calamities.

The use of colors provided in the Code Alert System designed by the Department of Health (DOH) is a useful tool in the preparation, prevention and mitigation aspects in natural disaster like what has occurred in Eastern Visayas and even in man-made disaster and other types of disasters and calamities.

In DOH Administrative Order No. 2008-0024 or the Integrated Code Alert System of 2008, three colors are used as indicators in determining what conditions of natural, man-made and other types of disasters and calamities are present, the human resource requirements needed for responding and other necessary requirements.

In Code White, conditions include forecast typhoons (signal no. 2 up), national or local elections and other political exercises, national events, holidays or celebrations with potential Mass Casualty Incident (MCI), any emergency with potential 10-50 casualties (deaths, injuries), notification of reliable information of terrorist attack/activities, any other hazard that may result in emergency and unconfirmed report of re-emerging diseases (e.g. bird flu, SARS).

Code White requires an emergency officer on duty, driver and security guard, reliever on stand by and a response chief to perform continuous monitoring and serve as medical controller for mass casualty incident plus the checking of all available medicines and supplies, do proactive monitoring, alert all health facilities that might be affected or needed to respond or receive patients and do other necessary actions to addressed the calamity or disaster.

In Code Blue, conditions include the conditions in Code White plus any of the two conditions like mobilization of DOH resources (manpower, materials), 30%-50% of health facilities in the area affected or damaged, no capability of LGU and/or lack of resources of the region to respond to the affected area, magnitude of the disaster based on the geographical coverage and number of affected population (more than 30%), any MCI with 50-100 casualties irrespective of color code, high case fatality rates for epidemic and confirmed human to human for Avian Flu or SARS.

Code Blue requires for a response director or officer to be physically present in the operation center, driver and security guard to assist at the operation center, incoming on call officer for immediate mobilization, logistics officer on duty and at least one DOH representative to go on duty to DRRMC plus do coordination with concerned government agencies, prepare possible drugs and medicines needed for movement to affected areas, check all possible means of transportation, anticipate need of medical teams and other experts, prepare all needed reports and presentation required for DRRMC meetings, plan for support to the affected regions in case of long term emergencies and make coordinative meetings with concerned offices.

In Code Red, conditions include any natural, man-made, technological or societal disaster where all of the following conditions are present like declaration of disaster to the affected area, 100 or more casualties in the area, health personnel in the region not capable to handle entire operation, mobilization of the health sector needed, mobilization of key offices and uncontrolled human to human transmission of SARS/Avian Flu.

Code Red requires for personnel and staff augmentation from other offices to be divided into three teams to go on a 24 hour duty rotation every three days composed of team leader, two data collector/encoder, logistics, communication, administrative officer, support staff/clerk, driver and I staff to be assigned at the OCD operation center on a 24 hours duty plus representation of the agency to DRRMC and other agencies and leads in the coordination of international partners in health and nutrition, all members of the health sectors, international and local donor agencies, prepare updated reports, assists in the preparation of recovery and rehabilitation plans and recommends in the activation of the crisis committee.

Every one of us knew the white, blue and red and other colors, yet we simply disregard its deep meaning in the lives of people especially in times when other people’s lives are lost and properties are destroyed.