DSWD Staff testing the Cobham Explorer 5075GX

 

DSWD Social Workers, info-tech specialists, and Project Development Officers from the DReAMU (Disaster Response Assistance and Management Unit) recently underwent training for them to be familiarized with brand-new, state-of-the-art satellite telecommunications equipment.

These were donated to the DSWD FO VIII through a partnership with Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company (read about it here: https://fo8.dswd.gov.ph/…/better-communication-for-bett…/).

Experts from Inmarsat and Telecoms Sans Frontieres, a humanitarian aid non-government agency, were brought in to provide instructions and to share their expertise with these equipment.

The three-day activity was capped with a simulation exercise. Four teams were deployed across Tacloban City – one at the Tacloban City Hall grounds to act as an operations center, another at Astrodome, one at Montview, and at PHHC.

The teams were scattered around the city to test the equipments’ reliability on different kinds of terrain. Each group was required to provide a mock disaster report to the operations center, using only the satellite phones and portable Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminals. These were monitored by observers.

The simulation exercise proved to be a success – all the teams were able to use the equipment competently, and were able to send reports through voice, SMS, and email.

For DSWD staff, this training is useful since Region VIII is prone to weather disturbances. The equipment and the skills acquired during the training will help improve DSWD’s service to the people.