THE Bago City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), through its Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Program, conducted on Thursday, a debriefing to more than 40 residents of Barangay Ma-ao, who were traumatized due to the recent lightning incident.
Merijene Ortizo, local disaster risk reduction and management officer IV, told VoxPop Bacolod that aside from the 11 victims brought to the hospital, some 30 other residents have also experienced trauma.
Of the more than 40 residents directly and indirectly affected by the lightning, were mostly children.
Ortizo said they conducted psychological first aid for children and psychosocial processing for adults.
"This is to lessen the trauma experienced by the residents so they can see a commonality among themselves," she said, adding that debriefing allows the victims to understand that what they are undergoing is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.
On May 22, three adults and eight minors were injured after a lightning hit an area near a chapel where they were attending a Flores de Mayo.
Investigation showed that it suddenly rained during that time then a lightning struck near them. Authorities believed that it did not directly hit the chapel, but the electric current possibly flowed on the ground.
During the conduct of the debriefing, Ortizo said they separated those who were brought to the hospital from those who did not sustain injuries.
"Generally, they are now okay. We observed two children, who are not talking and sharing their experience before, but they are starting to open up now," Ortizo said.
Aside from the medical care provided by the city hospital, Ma-ao Rescue Unit and CDRRMO, affected residents are also receiving financial assistance from the City Social Services and Development Office, she added.
The recent fatality was on May 28, when a man was struck by lightning at Barangay Ma-ao in Bago.
The victim was in a rice field when he was hit by lightning after it rained.
Two days prior to the incident, a lightning also killed four persons and injured six others in Pontevedra town last week.
The victims took shelter in a hut during a heavy rain when they were hit by lightning.
Last month, a lightning also killed six persons, including five children, and injured 17 others when they took shelter under a 10-wheeler truck when it rained at Barangay Manlocahoc in Sipalay City.
