Tabuk City, Kalinga – A new coast guard officer from Tabuk City, Kalinga is currently fighting for his life after losing consciousness in a Water Search and Rescue Training on November 16 in Kawit, Cavite, according to his family.
During said date, Mori Caguay, 30, a resident of Bulanao and a dad to an 8-year-old boy was among those who participated in the Water Search and Rescue Training of the Philippine Coast Guard when he lost consciousness.
A video released online showed Caguay being motionless when one of his colleagues jumped, got him out of the water, and applied chest compressions.
Since the incident, Caguay has been intubated at the San Pedro Calungsod Medical Center in Cavite and is now being sustained by a ventilator. His kin likewise revealed that he was assessed to be ‘brain dead’ by two neurologists and that his CT scan showed blood in his brain.
Family and tribe’s clamor
In a statement shared by the family and the Bago tribe, it was said that Caguay’s kin were only notified through a text message about him losing consciousness during the training. They added that they were not faced by any officer in command when they came to the hospital, just the nurse from the Philippine Coast Guard who shared ‘limited information’.
“What is appalling to us is the way the PCG responded to the situation,” they wrote.
The kin also raised that Caguay was in best shape, completing his training and going through a medical examination before his application to the PCG. Hence, they can’t think of other reason why he randomly lost consciousness.
“One of his colleagues anonymously disclosed that Mori Caguay was already done with the task but was asked to go back in the water, the trainors intentionally exhausted him, “pinagtripan”,” they added.
“The second thing that is shady to us is the way the hospital expenses are being delegated to us,” the family further wrote, claiming that while they were assured that the PCG would provide aid, they’re the ones buying every prescription.
With this, the family and the Bago tribe appeal to higher officials including senators in the country to ‘look into the practices of Coast Guard and the culpability of the trainors’.
On November 15, a 27-year-old Coast Guard personnel lost consciousness in the 100-meter swim of the WASAR training in Palawan. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead at 9:00 p.m.
This led to PCG suspending all ongoing WASAR courses in the country on Nov. 16 pending review of safety procedures by the Coast Guard Special Operations Force and cognizant units.
"With this incident, rest assured that our existing training safety protocols will be reviewed and improved to ensure that every personnel preparing to become first responders can effectively serve the Filipino nation by upholding the safety of lives at sea," CG Admiral Gavan said.
LISTEN TO STATION 1 RADIO: CLICK ME
.png)
Comments