Atma Connect and the Indonesian Red Cross, known as PMI, held disaster evacuation training with volunteers in Sukabumi, Indonesia, with Atma and the Internet Society Foundation. Kompas TV, a nationwide TV broadcaster, which also has 17.3 million YouTube subscribers, aired a brief segment about the effort and interviewed Atma’s Field Director Alfan Kasdar about the community volunteers, also known as SIBAT.
“The hope is that in the future, these SIBAT members will have sufficient capabilities, that they can respond in disaster situations. We know that these two geographic areas are quite risky and have potential disasters, especially landslides and earthquakes,” Kasdar said.
Atma’s disaster resiliency work is supported in part by a grant from the Internet Society Foundation, and this TV segment was one of more than two dozen media segments since the disaster resilience program began. .
The segment, in Bahasa, can be viewed on YouTube here.
Below is an English transcript:
- Kompas TV: In improving capabilities and readiness in facing disasters, the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) Sukabumi regency provides training and simulation of victim evacuation to dozens of community-based disaster volunteers in Sukabumi, West Java. This training is conducted as an effort to prevent and provide assistance to disaster victims.
- About 60 SIBAT volunteers receive disaster management training by PMI Sukabumi along with Atma Connect in disaster-prone areas of Nyalindung and GegerBitung. Equipped with materials and practical exercises on first aid and disaster command post management.
- Additionally, the speed of providing reports via internet networks is also given within this training. These volunteers are equipped with knowledge of how to provide assistance and evacuate victims before they are taken to hospitals for treatment. This training is provided considering that Sukabumi Regency is one of the disaster-prone areas, such as landslides, floods, soil movement, and earthquakes.
- Kompas TV:What is the purpose of these activities?
- PMI Representative: The purpose of it is the development of a model of community resilience based on the Internet. So, this is an effort so that these SIBAT members are ready when disasters occur.
- Alfan Kasdar, Atma Connect: The hope is that in the future, these SIBAT members will have sufficient capabilities; they can respond in disaster situations. We know that these two areas are quite risky and have potential disasters, especially landslides and earthquakes.
- Kompas TV Narrator: From this training, it is targeted that the volunteers are able to map the potential in their respective environments and can react quickly if disasters occur.