Philippine Red Cross fight vs COVID-19
My constant column project has been the Philippine Red Cross. Not just because its chairman and CEO, Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon is a close friend of the family, but because of my admiration for the work the humanitarian organization, of which he is chair and CEO, is involved in. Name a natural or man-made calamity occurring in our country, and you find the Red Cross there – helping save lives. As I expected, its latest concern is responding to the challenge of helping curb the spread of the coronavirus that has been creating havoc and desperation by claiming lives and creating emotional and psychological trauma among Filipinos.
A feather in its cap is PRC’s being identified as key humanitarian partner of the government in the fight against COVID-19 under the landmark Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act was signed into law March 23 to ramp up efforts to fight COVID-19, including social safety nets and PhilHealth medical assistance to health workers and volunteers who risk their lives in order to save the lives of others. The government will provide emergency subsidy to around 18 million low-income households, to ensure that families have access to food and other basic needs in light of the heavy economic cost of the pandemic.
Gordon says, “Kung kinaya ng ibang bansa na lampasan ang pandemic na ito, kaya rin natin (If other countries have dealt with the pandemic, why can’t we?). To the Filipino people – yes, we can and yes, we will. Fight we must, win we must!” The senator made crucial amendments in Senate hearings, paving the way for the P100,000 safety net for each healthcare worker infected by COVID-19, and a P1 million allocation each for bereaved families of healthcare workers who pass away in the line of duty.
PRC’s media bureau writes that the legislation identifies Philippine Red Cross as a key partner of the government in the distribution of goods and services to prevent and respond to the effects of the pandemic. As an “auxiliary” to public authorities in the humanitarian field, the PRC, supported by its worldwide Red Cross Red Crescent Movement partners, is mandated by the Philippine Red Cross Act (RA 10072) and international law to provide life-saving humanitarian aid, alleviating the suffering of people wherever they may be found.
The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act emphasizes and strengthens this auxiliary role of the prime humanitarian volunteer organization in the country, to support and supplement government efforts in these challenging and volatile times.
Says the media bureau: Even prior to the passage of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, PRC staff and volunteers had been mobilizing resources and providing relief assistance and pandemic prevention kits to communities, through Red Cross chapters in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. 1,137 liters of disinfectant solution had been donated to the Bulacan Red Cross Chapter, which it will then distribute to hospitals, barangay tanods, and other community frontliners. The Davao de Oro Red Cross chapter provided tents to serve as 14-day quarantine facilities for some passengers traveling from other parts of the Philippines, with Compostela Red Cross Chapter providing beds and water, ensuring respect for human dignity in humanitarian aid.
The PRC headquarters in Mandaluyong, also set up a 24/7-hour Red Cross hotline (1158) to address questions regarding COVID-19 symptoms and precautions, with volunteer doctors advising whether hospitalization may be required. Volunteer social workers also provide mental and psychosocial support to callers as part of the PRC’s support to mental health concerns. This helps decongest overwhelmed medical facilities by providing a first layer screening. There have been 128 calls received, the highest volume on March 24 after the new law was passed. There are currently 53 call center volunteers, and PRC welcomes more volunteers to serve the increasing volume of callers each day.
A volunteer doctor is always on standby and ready to provide medical advice to callers.
PRC also recognizes the toll on mental health brought by the threat of the coronavirus. The hotline addresses this through the help of a volunteer social worker who is ready to attend to callers needing psychosocial support. Tracing and restoring family links associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is also part of the hotline’s services.
“In these challenging times, we need to calm the people,” Gordon says. “We need to attend to their physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual needs. The Philippine Red Cross is here to listen and together we can beat COVID-19,” he adds.
The COVID-19 hotline 1158 is also PRC’s way to dispel misinformation, rumors, and myths about the disease as well as alleviate fears. More importantly, it provides a filter to help decongest hospitals because people can call the hotline first to seek for medical advice if hospital admission is necessary.
* * *
As this column wrote a couple of weeks ago, the Philippine Red Cross put up its first emergency medical tent within the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) compound to temporarily house patients with underlying conditions so they get test and treated right away. This move is to help overstrained hospitals accommodate people who are sick and possibly sick, with the virus. PRC put up its second tent at the NKTI compound. It established its third tent within the Philippine General Hospital compound.
The first two tents were put up near the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) five days earlier. The tents can accommodate up to 10 patients in isolation which is an ideal set-up since most patients at NKTI are immune-compromised and can easily be at risk to infection and contagious diseases. The tents are manned by the NKTI staff and health workers, with regular visits and support from Red Cross staff and volunteers.
The PGH tent is for triage, and is used as admission area where arriving patients will be screened after they are referred to the hospital as either persons under investigation (PUIs) or positive with complications to moderate symptoms.
PRC also deployed medical tents during the dengue and measles outbreak, in support of the hospitals which were overwhelmed by the sheer number of patients affected by these diseases. Tents were also used during the massive Mindanao earthquakes which damaged many hospitals that were unable to house patients.
* * *
- Latest
- Trending
