
A Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) trainee who participated in a summer sports fest fainted and later died during a company run in Dipaculao, Aurora on Sunday, April 14.
The concerned personnel is a 25-year-old male Candidate Coast Guard Non-Officer (CCGNO), PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan said on Monday, April 15. His identity was withheld by the PCG upon the request of the trainee's bereaved family.
A report from the PCG said that the CCGNO participated in a company run at the PCG Regional Training Center (RTC)-Aurora in Barangay Mijares as part of the week-long Summer Sports Fest 2024 of the Coast Guard Non-Officers’ Course (CGNOC) Class 102-2023.
Shortly after the event ended at 8 a.m., the CCGNO suddenly fainted, according to the PCG.
He was brought to a hospital in Baler 30 minutes later to receive medical assistance. The attending doctor recommended that he should be intubated and transferred to a bigger hospital in Cabanatuan City for further medical care.
The CCGNO was transferred to Cabanatuan City at 11:10 a.m. but his vital signs remained unstable. A cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed on him but he was declared dead by an attending doctor at around 1:45 p.m.
Gavan condoled with the bereaved family of the CCGNO as he directed the Coast Guard Education, Training and Doctrine Command (CGETDC) and the Coast Guard Inspector General and Internal Affairs Service (CGIG-IAS) to conduct a comprehensive investigation regarding the incident.
Part of the investigation is to determine whether the CCGNO has a history of a medical condition, and if the weather was a factor to his collapse and eventual demise.
“I have also instructed CGETDC to review existing training rules, regulations, and guidelines to ensure that the trainees’ health and welfare remain the utmost priority in all PCG regional training centers across the country,” Gavan added.
The CGNOC Class 102-2023 is composed of 345 trainees when they underwent pre-recognition rites at the Regional Training Center (RTC)-Aurora last January 28.