Photo By Lance Cpl. Mark Fike | U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Simon Rodriguez plays soccer with children during a cooperative health engagement at Bulsa, San Juan, Batangas, Philippines, April 5, 2019 as part of Exercise Balikatan. U.S. Sailors with 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, are working with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Australian Defence Forces to support local communities throughout the Philippines. Procedures and lessons learned throughout the exercise events strengthen U.S.-Philippine relationships, increase interoperability with the AFP and enhance operational readiness. Rodriguez, a corpsman with the Preventative Medicine Team, 3rd Med. Bn., 3rd MLG, is a native of Chicago, Illinois. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Mark Fike)
The CHEs aim to provide immediate assistance to communities and give residents the necessary awareness and basic knowledge to be able to respond to local emergencies. They are part of the broader Humanitarian and Civic Assistance portion of Balikatan, which also includes engineering and civic assistance projects and community relations events.
"Nagpapasalamat kami sa mga namumuno ng Balikatan sa pag-aabot nila ng tulong at papagbibigay nila ng kaalaman sa aming barangay [We are truly grateful to the organizers of this event for bringing their services to our barangay]," said Aileen Endaya, a local resident who attended the event.
Over 6,600 residents in the Balian barangay were given basic life support and emergency response training by the total combined force and the Philippine Red Cross-Laguna Chapter. Armed Forces of the Philippines service members and the Red Cross workers also provided hygiene management and medical, dental, and veterinary services to the local community members.
"The CHE is a learning opportunity not just for the residents of Baligan, but also for the Filipino, American, and Australian military personnel who get to know of each other's best practices," said Philippine Army Lt. Col. Roslyn Ilarde, CHE lead planner.
Health workers and local first responders, composed of barangay police, or "tanods," were also trained in basic life support, first aid, and emergency evacuation.
"We are very excited to be here in this beautiful barangay, and [we] are receiving great support from the community,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Mary Morin, CHE Officer in Charge. “That, along with learning the best practices of our AFP counterparts, has made this a truly wonderful all around experience," she said.
Residents also received a community cleanliness management seminar to learn methods of preventing the spread of common diseases, like leptospirosis and dengue, and to help control pests. Pets were also dewormed and given rabies vaccines, while their owners underwent pet care management and responsible pet ownership seminars.
Exercises such as Balikatan increase the ability of Philippine, U.S. and Australian forces to work together. Humanitarian and civic assistance activities enable our service members to get to know each other and provide support to local communities.
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