CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Natural disasters are a severe issue of concern not just in the Philippines but globally due to their
social, environmental, and economic impacts. Disasters are likely to occur more frequently due to
climate change, environmental degradation, rising population density, and poor living circumstances.
The Philippines, one of the nation’s most vulnerable to natural catastrophes, has been through
hundreds of disasters.

Who is affected by the disaster is equally significant as population increase and distribution,
which both influence to vulnerability. A group's socioeconomic diversity may affect how well-
equipped its members are to combat themselves.   Age, gender, educational level, area of
assignment, and length of service, for instance, are the main barriers to their capacity to
respond to catastrophe situations.
Moreover, Disaster risk reduction and management - health (DRRM-H) Managers face challenges in
handling the DRRMH Program due to the following reasons: poor coordination and collaboration with
partners and stakeholders like the local disaster risk reduction officer, lack of support from local chief
executives (LCEs) in the program, and the inability of some LGUs to access their local disaster risk
reduction and management fund, lack of resources and logistics which significantly negatively
impacts the community and results in ill-equipped disaster managers and public health emergency
workers.
Given the mentioned challenges, this study will propose strengthening network linkages with LGUs
and other government and non-government agencies through Quarterly meetings and lobbying for
the Health Emergency Management System budget with local chief executives (LCEs) to conduct
necessary training and capacity building. Training for disaster managers and public health emergency
workers includes Basic Life Support, Standard First Aid, Nutrition in Emergencies, Mental Health and
Psychosocial Support, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Health Emergency Response Operation
(HERO, Sub Public Health Emergency Management, Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP), Basic
Incident Command System, Surveillance in Post Extreme Emergencies and Disasters (SPEED) and
other health emergency and disaster-related training.
Generally, Emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction activities will continue to be vital for
the resilience of every Filipino; as part of Disaster Preparedness, training/capacity building among
public health workers is crucial in disaster management. Empowering Disaster Managers and public
health workers with the abilities and capabilities to manage and minimize disaster risk is critical for
improving disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels. Disaster impact can be reduced if
disaster management and public health emergency personnel are skilled, trained, and equipped,
along with a prepared community. Emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction initiatives by
Empowering Human Resources in disaster management through training and capacity building will
remain crucial for the resilience of the Filipino people.