Luzon Doctors, Nurses Deployed to Yolanda-hit Areas

A Department of Health (DOH) official said on Wednesday they have deployed over a hundred medical staff from Metro Manila and Luzon to Visayas areas heavily affected by Typhoon Yolanda bringing at least P25 million worth of medicines and other supplies, Gma News Online reported.

The medical team, composed mostly of doctors and nurses, were to treat residents who were sick and injured as a result of the typhoon, which battered the Visayas region on Friday, leaving a staggering number of over 2,000 fatalities, as of Tuesday’s update.

DOH Undersecretary Ted Herbosa, in a press statement, has said “More are positioned to take off and set up satellite medical stations throughout Regions 6, 7 and 8,”

Herbosa added the medical teams sent by the Health office are led by the “best, brightest and bravest of our hospital chiefs”. The statement said “The doctors and nurses came from the Tondo Medical Center, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital, Amang Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, East Avenue Medical Center and Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, among other hospitals of Metro Manila and Luzon.”

The Online News reported the medical teams were to be deployed in Tacloban in Leyte province, and Bantayan and Medellin in Cebu. Noting that many typhoon-ravaged areas have yet to receive medical assistance from the government, the undersecretary said “We will not stop until we get all our medical teams on the ground.”

Gma News’ “Unang Balita” reported the medical teams’ priority is to provide first aid to the injured and prevent the spread of the water-borne disease leptospirosis. The same report said at least 5,000 doses of tetanus vaccines and 1,500 body bags were sent to Tacloban City.

Doctor Eric Tayag of the National Epidemiology Center has already dispelled fears of possible epidemics caused by the hundreds of unburied bodies. “Walang risk ang dead bodies. Ganito ‘yan: ‘Pag ‘yung dumi na lumabas mula sa bituka ng dead bodies ay napunta sa sources of water, ‘yun ang contamination. But, as it is, it will not spread disease,” Tayag told Gma News Online on Tuesday.

He also pointed out that infectious germs could not survive in a cadaver beyond 48 hours. In his tweeter, Tayag said “The health risk to the public is negligible unless dead bodies are touched and hands are unwashed”. “Basic hygiene, hand washing, using gloves or boots if available can protect body handlers from potential exposure to infections.”

In a related development, the Online News reported that more than 70 medical practitioners have been airlifted for free by the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) upon the request of the DOH, revealing that all health facilities in Region VIII were damaged by the typhoon. In a statement on Wednesday, PAL has said it flew eight medical teams and one psychosocial team to Tacloban City.

PAL reportedly flew in medicines, medical equipment, body bags, and other supplies and materials needed to augment DOH efforts in the region and at the Eastern Visayas Medical Center, the only functional hospital in Tacloban. Reports added PAL has also operated a humanitarian flight from Manila to Tacloban transporting teams from the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and other government agencies mounting rescue and medical missions.

PAL president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said “We will do everything we can to assist in government’s efforts to respond to the needs of our countrymen.” He adds “We will continue to coordinate closely with government agencies to see where we can help. We are prepared to extend assistance any way we can.”

Meanwhile, the international support through deployment of expert rescue and trauma teams is being coordinated by the DOH through the World Health Organization (WHO), Gma News Online said.

The WHO representative to the Philippines, Dr Julie Hall, announced earlier that “self-sufficient medical teams from Australia,Belgium,Germany,Hungary, Israel, Japan, Norway, Russia and Spain are already in the Philippines and logistical arrangements are underway to ensure that they reach affected areas. There are offers for help from Spain, Israel, the United Kingdom and Singapore.”

Hall added “Priority for deployment will be teams that can set up hospitals with capacity for surgery and are equipped with generators and supplies for their teams to last from 10-15 days.”

“We are working closely with the DOH to facilitate positioning of these international teams in strategic areas to augment the local medical teams,” Gma News Online reported.

Source: Gma News Online