Emergency field hospitals of PH Red Cross nearing full capacity due to COVID-19
With the surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country, the Emergency Field Hospital (EFH) of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) at the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI) and Lung Centre of the Philippines (LCP) is nearing its full capacity.

“We are in a war situation against COVID-19,” said PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard Gordon on Tuesday, Aug. 10. “The health care system in the NCR Plus region is challenged due to the increasing cases of COVID-positive individuals),” he added.
To address this, the PRC will be ramping up its EFH operation and plans of extending it are in the works.
Gordon also ordered the deployment of the 100-bed capacity EFH at LCP and 20-bed capacity at NKTI in response to the overwhelming volume of people needing admission during the surge since last April 2020.
“Through the emergency field hospitals of the Red Cross, this will help serve more patients needing immediate health care,” Gordon explained.
The EFH served as an extension for LCP and NKTI to handle the increasing demand for beds in hospitals.
This will help LCP free bed spaces allowing admission of more severe cases in need of immediate hospital care.
The field hospital is equipped with 64-beds with medical equipment such as oxygen tanks, ECG machine, PPV and Intubation set, Automated External Defibrillator, and other basic ward facilities that will serve mild to moderate cases.
The EFH is also equipped with air-conditioning units to ensure proper ventilation.

Gordon noted that PRC is ready to deploy more medical tents and emergency field hospitals if COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the following weeks.
As of Aug. 9, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that there were 8,900 new COVID-19 cases --- bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,667,714.