Considered as the biggest and most popular religious event in the Philippines, the Peñafrancia fiesta is in fact a one-week affair that starts on the second Friday of September when the miraculous Ina is transferred from her shrine to the centuries-old Naga Metropolitan Cathedral where a nine-day novena and prayers are held in her honor. Billions of people, devotees and pilgrims flock to Naga City just to witness the Feast celebration and the procession transferring the miraculous image of the Virgin, Our Lady of Penafrancia and of the Divino Rostro to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Naga City locally called as Traslacion. Included in the weeklong Penafrancia festivities are the Civic and Military parades, sports competitions, cultural shows and the coronation of Miss Bicolandia beauties.

With the great number of persons involved in the said celebration, the Joint Operations Commission (JOC) and the Department of Health (DOH) as the front-line in the Rescue operations aimed to secure the safety of the participants, devotees and pilgrims during the actual procession of the miraculous Ina. Under the supervision of the Joint Operations Commission (JOC) are the HEMS, DOH and the Philippine Red Cross and other emergency response team.

The Philippine Red Cross-Camarines Sur Chapter organized its Safety Services for the Penafrancia festivities, and one of the activities is the Traslacion held last September 9, 2011. 1 week earlier, the Safety Service Director, Mr. Romulo V. Cordez Jr. called an emergency meeting for all College Red Cross Youth Councils in the entire Camarines Sur. In the meeting, the director presented that the number of the first volunteers must be only at a maximum of 20. And the list of first aid volunteers must be submitted the next day since it must also be forwarded to the Joint Operation Commission (JOC). Mr. Cordez also cited that they will deploy 15 stations and each council must select their positions during the procession. Instructors will be equally deployed to the different stations with the 20 Red Cross Youth volunteers. The Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges-Red Cross Youth Council selected Camarines Sur National High School as their station. Mr. Cordez also instructed the use and completions of the trauma sheets on patients injured.

September 9, 2011 was the date of the Traslacion and all volunteers must be at their respective posts before the road closes at 12 noon. The 20 First Aid volunteers assembled at CSPC around 9:00 am for the short briefing by the CSPC-RCYC Adviser Mr. Alvin Franco A. Agtarap. Mr. Agtarap organized the volunteers and divided them in to 2 groups. 1st group composing 10 members will stay at the First Aid station supervised by Mrs. Taburnal and the 2nd group with the other 10 members composing the mobile group supervised by Mr. Agtarap.  10:00, all equipments are loaded on the vehicle heading for the Camarines Sur National High school.  11:30 am, the CSPC-RCYC arrives at the site unloading all equipments and sets up the First Aid Station. Half of the volunteers were allowed to take their lunch leaving the area, and the next half following the same order.  After a while, Mr. Cordez visited and checked the site if the team is complete and already on their station.

Before the image of Ina was transferred, there were already reports and cases of injury, mostly resulting in Heat exhaustion since the sun’s rays were in its peak that time.  It was around 3:00 in the afternoon when Ina passed the Camarines Sur National High School. During the traslacion, which passed through the main streets of Naga, the miraculous Ina of the Bicolanos is borne on the rugged, muscular shoulders of barefooted voyadores who form a human barricade to protect the Virgin from the unruly crowd.  Several voyadores were rushed in to the First Aid station with the aid of the Mobile group. First Aid measures and interventions were given to relieve the suffering of the voyadores. The station admitted patients with medical and trauma cases while the First Aid volunteers under the mobile team mostly treated a flock of voyadores with bleeding and also trauma cases.

As it was expected, several cases were reported in traslacion and the first aid volunteers intervened successfully on those persons injured. Declaring that there are no more patients and casualty behind, Mr. Agtarap called for a debriefing recalling all works, strengths and weaknesses of the group.