At least 200 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients have received help from the specialized ambulance fleet of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) as of Monday, Aug. 16.
Composed of six Negative Pressure Ambulance (NPA) units, PRC said that its fleet is manned by trained emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to help the country cope with its current war against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Currently, we have six negative pressure in our fleet, habang tumataas ang daily cases natin, kailangan na kailangan ang mga specialized ambulance na ito sa mga apektadong lugar, kaya naman bibili pa tayo (as our daily cases increase, these specialized ambulances are urgently needed in the affected areas, so we will buy more),” PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Gordon.
As of Aug. 16, the NPA fleet has serviced 199 COVID-19 patients --- 166 of whom were indigent and given free service.
With the surge of COVID-19 cases and the appearance of other variants in various parts of the country, PRC said that is “truly making good use” of these emergency vehicles and plans to purchase three more of these specialized ambulances.
“These emergency vehicles are put to good use,” Gordon said. “Nagbibigay na tayo ng libreng serbisyo para sa mga indigent COVID patients natin dito sa Metro Manila, sa Cagayan De Oro, Olongapo, Bacolod, at sa Cebu (We now provide free services for our indigent COVID patients here in Metro Manila, in Cagayan De Oro, Olongapo, Bacolod, and in Cebu),” he added.
Gordon, meanwhile, noted that the new NPAs will be deployed by PRC in other cities and provinces.
PRC's negative pressure ambulance units are through the donation from Australian Aid, Bloomberry Foundation, and the Security Bank Foundation Inc.
When asked how important these vehicles are in fighting the spread of COVID-19, PRC Safety Services Manager Von Ryan Ong explained that NPA units are “valuable assets in fighting highly communicable diseases during these times when we are battling the COVID-19 outbreak.”
“It serves as another layer of protection as it protects patients and our EMTs from cross-contaminating one another,” Ong added.
PRC said that these vehicles are equipped with tools like a negative pressure cabin and a patient isolation chamber which lowers the air pressure, and disinfects and filters the air.