a gorejuzzz experience (2)

8/3/2019 A GOREjuzzz Experience (2)

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A GOREjuzzzz Experienc Words by: Einstein Schwartz Tabbilos

ven before I tried to write the words in this article, I first took

the liberty to have a cold and relaxing bath after a whole

tiresome day of being an actor and a patient for our respective

superiors from different agencies, Baguio-Benguet Public Information Civic Action

Group (BB-PICAG) , Philippine Nurses

Associations (PNA), Baguio City Emergency

Medical Service (BCEMS), and the Office of Civil

Defense (OCD) , of Emergency teams with

the help of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR) . We started the day with a big yawn on our faces. Th e words “ six in the

morning ” is quite the attention-grabber where a small bulb suddenly appeared

above our heads and lit bright, like in cartoons, and the thought that it carries went rocketing straight into our

minds that just by digesting the time we met at the Athletic Bowl itself, we knew that we will going to be part

of a serious, bloody, stinky and exciting activity, or rather a drill.

It took about thirty minutes passed the hour of six to finally gather all the students at the Athleti

Bowl for briefing of what has to come and happen on that day, twelfth of August two thousand eleven. Th

Department of Health (DOH) sent about ten to fifteen…or more representatives to guide us on what we’re

going to do. One of them or two let us stack and place our backpacks, jackets, valuables, and even our food in

their vehicles, a white/cream with green stripe Pajero and a spotless white mini-van. After which, at the rear

ends of the vehicles, a guy shouted, doing a traffic-policeman gesture towards him on a heavy traffic, “Dito po

muna tayong lahat para makapagsimula na tayo!” The guy was obviously the boss and the leader. His buff arms

and tummy pushed against a bright orange and green vest with DOH logos published in front and back. Some

of the representatives got a “STOP D.E.A.T.H.” sign at the back, which made me and my group-mate, Allen

Mislang, asked, “Ano kaya meaning ng D.E.A.T.H.?” But before we could answer our selves, we’d realized that

we are all standing in front of the boss listening to instructions. “Good morning! Thank you for being here, students, today you will all be part

of a bloody training, YOU will all serve as our patients, so we are going to need y our cooperation...”

After his short briefing, students were all divided into f our groups of six, that’s twenty four students, not even half of the class of fif

two, well, almost. These twenty four students/patients were asked to go straight to Burnham Park Lake, geographically located at the Sout

East side of the lake, just across Solibao Restaurant. That morning, there are four sites to accomplish by four teams divided from the differen

agencies. On our location, the boss then divided the patients int o 4 groups of 6, because there are 6 different injuries/cases (Shoulders, Ribcag

Pelvic bone, Femur, Unconscious, and a paralyzed patient), one case on each group. We were then instructed to be actors and actresses. Th

boss said, “If they failed to check your AIRWAY first, never talk and say what your injury is, let them assess you, do not help them, act as re

patients, let them do their thing.”

E“ If they failed to check

your AIRWAY first, never talk and say what your injury is, let them assess

you, do not help them,act as real patients, let

them do their thing.”



On the site came our four Clinical Instructors on Basic Li

Support (Ivy May Valdez-Marbella, Evangeline Soliba, Maureen Sabalbu

and Sir Larry Pascual, and watched us. From a distance, we saw a boat w

3 people on an orange outfit coming from the other side of the lake with

patient full of bandages on a spine board, that’s the first team to have

reached our site, the 4 th team. After some time, all the other teams cam

and endorsed their saved patients (from the remaining students left at th

bowl). Before the rescuers could start the next challenge, they had to fini

a task, this is to carry us (small, medium, large, and extra large

weighed/built patients … XXL, anyone? ) around the lake to test their

stamina. The 4th team took the advantage, but they had a problem

carrying two patients, one is tall, and the second is big, I mean BIG,

believe me, I know. The funny thing is, 3 rescuers had the guts to carry

this BIG patient, imagine an elephant riding 3 tricycles at once. These 3

courageous musketeers really are strong that they transported the BIG

patient half way but people get exhausted as well, thus, in time, 4

musketeers carried the patient. After a couple of minutes, they were

already 5, and from there on, after 20minutes or more of punishment, 6 brave musketeers completed the task. Christian Peralta is the rea

punisher! That sounded real fun, you know, we’re excited. But time really ran slow that morning, we’v

waited about an hour or two for my team to be carried. Whe

that time came, the 1 st team came to the rescue. We position

ourselves and acted our faces off like Hollywood stars, Mis

Clint Eastwood, sir? Rescuers left me all alone on the site; don

ask me why, I really have no idea, but one thing’s for sure whe

I’ve heard one lady said while helping the patient position

behind me , “Let’s take this one first, he looks lighter than him

I thought in my mind, “Oh, come on , ma’am. I heard that, a

you’re wrong, I’m lighter than him . Maybe” So I just lied and waited the

imagining things and found myself falling asleep. Cold wind blew across the lake, oh, how I wished they smelled like fresh pine n

garbage. After forever of waiting, they transported one patient around and put him down and said their thanks to the patient. Two dudes

immediately assessed and rescued me, and then they had to transport me from Burnham Lake straight to Athletic Bowl because I am the las

one. Doesn’t that sound fun? Halfway from A thletic Bowl, one girl who was carrying me cried like, “Ang bigat mo!” and I was like, “Maga

lang po ako, ate.” T hey were breathing heavily. Rescuers tried to do their best to conquer the competition. We’re really proud of their courag

and will to finish all challenges. The challenge appeared to be a local version of the Amazing Race.

We all gathered at the Athletic Bowl after the carries-challenge w

over, except for the others thrown to different sites. That was about 1

o’clock in the morning, the first half of the day is coming to an end. Ever

experienced the feeling of dryness due to dehydration like people traveling

the desert that you’ve seen in the movies ? Like you are really that thirsty a

you can’t do anything but wait until you hav e the key? Yes, the key to op

the doors of the Pajero and Mini-van. Oh, we hoped it’s just as easy as sayin



“Open Sesame”. We all are lingering for that refreshing water we had prepared for t

day. Not just that we felt the thirst, but as well as the hunger! Can you imagine ho

long we had waited for that single key? Time really ticked so slowly that day that

even borrowed money from our group- mate, Reniel Galvez, and said “We’ll pa y y

when we got our stuff.” Allen, got like a hundred pesos from Reniel, then I stood u

from where I was seating to the nearest store, with more classmates. We found a rare 8

Star sari-sari store that stood by the tennis court and the main gate of the Bowl. Th

wasn’t necessarily the 8 -star you were thinking, that’s sarcasm. We just came instantly up with that name because their food really is expensive. “How much is a single thigh o

chicken meat again?” we asked. We ended up having lumpia and puto after we heard th

price of the meat. All of us who came back from the 8-star store were all wearing the hungriness on our faces.

We came back to the place that we were sitting, someone from somewhere said, “We’re not going to eat unless all the rescuer s

finish.” Okay, I thought. Maybe a little faster is better. It’s nice to eavesdrop sometime s. You will learn what good reasons are, but that time, it’

bad. I am hungry, we all are. Almost an hour of hunger had past already. From a distance, I saw small images and shadows underneath th

vehicles, it took me seconds to comprehend that some hungry people, like me, are now opening the cars. I stood up bolting and ran straight to

the ground; as I ran, I shouted, “Hurry! They’ve got the keys!” The doors of the cars burst open. Le

than half the students who are resting spilled in to get their stuff . What a relief, I thought. “We are a

going to eat together with the rescuers …” someone from behind said like it’s free, but before I pull

the trigger to saying a word, she continued “…they’ll provide some food.” Now THAT was the real

relief! Then I slammed the doors shut. In not more than the time we had expected, the staff invited u

to join them. As we climbed the steps to the place where the food is served, we already smelled th

familiar aroma, usually one of the top recipes in Benguet, they called it “Pinikpikan”. They a

served some fish. Expressions of all the people eating there were absolutely pretty good, because

the food, and the accomplishments, well, for that morning, the hardest and exhausting part still ha

not yet to come. The time w e started to dig was about 1 o’clock in the afternoon , good enough

appreciate the fullness and urge to take a nap after an intense intake of calories from softly-killed an

fire-punished native chicken, oh, and don’t forget to digest the golden Chayote that crawls in yo

backyard.

Successful digging and chow recharged all of us, and ready to kick some butt again, or rather to act as patients again. Seen the faces

the rescuers thought how brave they were. On the central ground, just by the shed below the stage, a group of students were playing catch

basketball (without basket), soccer, and anything you can play with the ball. A student, Alelie Alcaide, even played the

like the kid’s toy, jackstone, and I was like, “Seriously?” Though there are lots of things to pl

using the ball. Students decided to try one game, which is Socc

also called football. Sweat poured but still they played aexpressed their feelings by kicking the ball under

intense heat of the sun. They played at their best until th

all gave up and wanted to rest. I just slept, or rath

napped, after the game, on prone position with my arm

folded and wrapped around that served as the pillo

Someone woke me up, the next thing I knew. They we

calling our attentions. We are set to go to Camp 7 for the REAL thing!



Two jeeps were parked at the ground, good enough to transport 52 students. Yes, 52 students in two jeeps. Trust me, I was there, but

unfortunately, about 6 sat in the aisle and 2-3 climbed by the door and hanged on the jeep I was in. We had reached th

location after 20-30 minutes of asking, “Are we there yet?” For one reason, it’s not just me w

numbed buttocks from sitting in the aisle with ridges. The location w

awesome; it’s about 6 -floor building high from the highway to the river dow

The quest won’t start without a short meeting from the representatives of the

Department of Health.

Students/patients were divided again based on the location. “W

are afraid of heights?” the representative asked. With that question alone,

you would expect who are afraid of it: girls. The question made us real

that 20 people are not going to be placed down the river, instea

somewhere else. There were 17 who volunteered to join the group, wh

are afraid of heights, and they need 3 more. The next thing I knew, I was counted as 18 th, w

Christian Peralta and Allen Mislang as 19th and the 20 th because we were sitting by the team who are afraid of hi

places, but that doesn’t necessarily meant we are afraid as well. We then walked our curious selves back up to the intersection of Camp 7 an

Loakan, at the bridge. A drink of a cold, fresh coconut juice with coconut strips made us counter attack the intense power of the king, the sun

Above the bridge, at the side walk, people who are passing us either from their vehicles, motorcycles, or just bystanders are looking at us like w

were real celebrities and wondering what we’re doin g there and they were the paparazzi with cameras everywhere, but they are not equippe

with cameras, just their eyes as the weapon. It’s seemed crazy for them.

The representatives were carrying a huge pail with raw meat and artificial blood in it. The twenty students/patie

were asked to sit at the curb of the sidewalk for a “makeover”, and were divided again based on the Incide

Management System; one is called the Triage Sector:

Greed tag = Non-injury;

Yellow tag = Urgent but not life threatening;

Red tag = Severe, multiple injuries, and most urgent; and

Black tag = Dead.

Most injuries on our site were not that severe, there were like 5-10 patients

who are on a Red tag and one Black tag, the rest are Green and Yellow. After they

bathe us with artificial blood, and hooked very smelly pig intestines, bones, and meat,

we went straight beneath the

bridge and took the liberty to find a niceplace but hard for the rescuers to locate. Some hid at the

big grass, at the rocks, and I was at the river. The signal was raised that t

rescuers are there already, everybody started rushing around, making t

scene realistic, making positions and folded their selves.

A minute before the rescuers found us, we all are screamin

“HELP!”, “TULONG!” after a second, t he first thing we heard wa

shout and seemed to be an order , “ Tumayo po lahat ng nakakatayo at nakakalakad!” Green and Yellow tagged patients stood bolt up and

walked up the bridge with assistance. Red tagged remained unconscious, rescuers then marked our foreheads with Green, Yellow, Red tape an



started prioritizing who has the severest injury. Assessment was done. The lifts and carrie

depending on the injury, were done. The only thing I did not really like was the insertio

on Intra-venous fluid, which made me really feel bad; they made me a guinea-pig. Th

inserted not just one, but two, because they first hit the wrong vein. “ Believe me, lady

hurts” I muttered, “And whoever you are, if you do that again, I’m going to face -plant y

hard, Schwartz-style.” But I am telling you now I am kidding; I would never mutter su

harsh words. Psych!

The triage they did was not that bad, there were just few mistakes; they rescu

the light-weighed patients first and saved the heavy ones for last instead of the severit

and they marked the supposedly Black tagged patient Red. We can’t blame them, and di

not. We just bore with them because we know how exhausted they were. We appreciated their bravery.

The twenty student/patient were all saved, all looked real bloody, messed up, funny,

and most of all, smelly. I looked down from my chest to foot and thought, “Oh! Dang!

W hat’s happened? What in the world was I wearing?” We then walked back down to the site

where they placed the others down the river. The drill really was a real thing. Policemen are

all around to manage the flow of the traffic. Media is present as well, not to mention thebystanders and motorists. When we came back, we saw some patients lying by the road, some

were underneath the cars like they

were totally ran over by speeding cars,

and almost 10 patients at the river, 6-

floors down the highway where we

were standing and watching, being

rescued. Ropes are the rescuers’

weapons including the strength and

effort. It seemed very hard for them torescue the entire mass of patients just

by looking at the location. It took

them like forever just to save one

patient and it is 3 o’clock, the sky is getting dark. The sun is ready to set in two hours or

three. Meanwhile, as they struggled and calculating how to rescue those who are injur

The rescued students brought out their cameras and took pictures, hundreds of it. Som

just didn’t mind other peo ple who are looking at them, like they were invisible, and j

freed their selves for being vain. Laughter and happiness burst out when we sa

ourselves on the camerSome looked so dead t hat you wouldn’t recognize you they were . Some smelled l

coffee, the others smelled like dead meat (that includes me), and some smelled l

sweat. It seemed that our clothes were not made of cloth. They were made

coffee and blood.

It appeared that they only saved 2-4 people and managed to b

brought back up. Around 15 people tried pulling the rope with brute strength, as

they were playing tag-of-war with a giant, but it’s really heavy, we ended up saving just 1 patient with the use of that pure strength, even gir

helped. After realizing that it’s getting late, r epresentatives and rescuers decided to unsecure the patients by removing the bandages and just l

“Oh! Dang!! W hat’s

happened?! What in the world was I wearing?!”



them climb the mountain up because it’s impossible to save them all with the insufficiency of time. After they all climbed their way up. T

representatives of the Department of Health told us to go to the Highest Point, that’s about less than 5 -minutes walk down from the site. Eve

one of us gathered there as we saw the setting sun. Picture-taking is never absent. Smiles th

would reach the ears are considerable. Groups had a place for themselves. Maybe it

late in the day for tourists. Most were joking around and talking. Before we all left the pla

the boss asked us to form a big circle and hear what he has to say. He stood proudly in fron

of us and acknowledged all the participants including the students. Without one of the

teams, this experience would never be possible. One representative for each team hathe chance to stand in the middle and thanked everyone, some made a short and inspirin

speech, and some added some relish by cracking some jokes

theirs. Mr. Pascual, our clinical

instructor, also had the chance to say

“thanks” to everybody. The boss’ final speech was very inspiring, he asked us to just bow our

heads and listen to him. It took him about less than quarter of an hour but the message that

he shared absolutely stayed forever with us, in hearts and brains. Most definitely, a prayer

wouldn’t be forgotten after getting into a pretty tough day. W e all bowed our heads and

prayed and thanked God for guiding us and didn’t let any bad thing happen to us, like a realaccident, for instance.

That night after finishing all up at the Highest Point, we’d just headed

down to our rides (the two jeeps) when we all realized that we

didn’t have the keys again. Our greatest

concern were not the keys that time, but

rather the mini-van itself, because we all had our stuff, backpacks placed in it and we ha

no idea where it is. They told us it’s still parked inside Athletic Bowl OR at the Bagu

General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), so we head our way back there. We

ran inside the jeep and found a seat; that time, we fortunately didn’t sat down the aisle,

but few still did. Ever been on one jeep with 25 double-dead-meat smelled students s

with you and you just wanted to jump out the vehicle? We’d only been a f

heartbeats from the site when most students in the jeep were asleep. I chuckled,

slow gentle sound, as if I were half asleep, “Nakakatuwa nam

tulog agad sila. Talagang nakakapagod ngay

araw.” At the Bowl, we’ve seen no white mini -van parked insi

Thought that that it is parked at BGHMC, so we drove back there, and we saw it

immediately just before we enter the property, and we followed it in front of the ma

Emergency Room of the hospital where it is parked. The door of the mini-van slid ope

and

Finally, around 7 o’clock in the evening of 12 th day of August circa 20

under normal circumstances, which these aren’t, we all are set to go ing home look

like dead, stinky people (we actually smell bad, I admit). We waited for a cab with ten more peo

outside the hospital. I saw a classmate who lives near my place so I called his attention and kindly asked if he wants to ride with me and I’ll jus

drop him off half way. It didn’t take forever for my cab to come. Just when I arrived home, I ran straight to the bathroom and did my thin

That day really was a gorgeous experience, aGOREjuzzzz one.

a gorejuzzz experience (2)

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