DOH-MIMAROPA completes training for first batch of paramedics

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=801703
• Tuesday, September 8, 2015

By Leilani S. Junio [(PNA),SCS/BNB/LSJ]

MANILA, Sept. 8 (PNA) -- The Department of Health (DOH)-MIMAROPA led on Tuesday evening the graduation ceremonies for the first batch of paramedics who will be deployed in the said region.

The paramedics were trained to provide immediate response to emergency situations among the people/visitors in the MIMAROPA provinces as part of the efforts to deliver better health services to the people.

MIMAROPA refers to the island provinces of Mindoro Occidental and Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan.

According to DOH-MIMAROPA Regional Director Dr. Eduardo C. Janairo, a total of 12 paramedics were trained to take the responsibility of performing first-aid for injured persons and those who are suffering from stroke.

The first set of graduates was a result of the partnership signed last May between DOH-MIMAROPA and Roland A. Fernando (RAF) School of Healthcare Technology in Pasay City.

RAF is the first institute to offer specialty courses in paramedics and home health care in the Philippines.

The training started last June. The board and lodging expenses of the trainees were shouldered by DOH-MIMAROPA.

Those who qualified for the training course are well-screened registered nurses, some of them coming from the MIMAROPA provinces.

They are Kamille Besa (DOH-Health Emergency Management Bureau); John Amielle T. Pila, (DOH-MIMAROPA); Edsel Padilla and Maristella Garing from Oriental Mindoro; Reynaldo Tan Jr. and Jasper Beryl Coching from Romblon; Josephine Morales (Marinduque); Joi Anne M. Padua (National Children’s Hospital); and Krisanto Idolito Calugay (Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center); Stacey Marie Bedia (Iloilo); Ernest Serranzana (Bicol); and Eric Tagle (Homehealth CA, USA).

“As paramedics who have received the training, they will be the primary health care responders to emergency situations… Meaning to say, they will be the ones that are expected to be the first to arrive on the scene (via ambulance), they will be the ones that will take control and provide immediate care to ensure that the patient makes it to the hospital,” Dr. Janairo said during the commencement ceremony held at the Manila Diamond Hotel in Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

Janairo added that another task of the said paramedics is to attend to emergencies, including minor injuries, sudden illness, and casualties arising from road and rail accidents, criminal violence, fires and other incidents in their places of assignment.

The group of paramedics consists of nurses who were trained basically in assessing the condition of patients who are injured or suddenly taken ill.

As nurses who acquired many of the basic knowledge in their nursing course, the DOH believes that they are the ones most fitted for the job of resuscitating and stabilizing patients in the most critical hours of transporting the patients to the hospital.

Through the trainings, the paramedics were further given expertise in the use of defibrillator; applying splints to limbs, dressing wounds, administering pain relief, oxygen, drips and fluids; taking ECG, carrying out certain surgical procedures when necessary, such as intubation (insertion of a breathing tube); monitoring the patient's condition and working closely with doctors and nurses in hospital accident and emergency departments, briefing them as their patient arrives at hospital; and producing case notes and reporting the patient's history, condition and treatment to relevant hospital staff.

The paramedics will be deployed in the provinces of MIMAROPA as a two-person team.

In line with this, they will be using an emergency motorcycle ambulance designed to transport them in the area of need with their equipment and medical supplies.

Janairo said that two units of motorcycle ambulance will initially be provided to the paramedics that will be used in transporting medical supplies.

The ambulances will be equipped with an oxygen tank, an ECG machine, defibrillator and a state-of-the art CENA 10C communication system with blue tooth capability, intercom, smartphone combined with an HD 1080P resolution action camera and recording.

It is also installed with early warning traffic devices such as a siren, LED flashers and built-in tractor grip tires for rocky roads and slippery muddy highway.

The bike is customized for the paramedic rider complete with helmet, jacket, pants, boots, gloves and a backpack containing first aid medicines.

Director Janairo clarified that the said paramedics are not a replacement for nurses.

“But they will augment the critical care capacity of the intensive care unit and the emergency unit of hospitals,” he said.

He added that while the specialty area of the said paramedics are emergencies that occur outside of hospitals, their task is not limited to such situations alone.

“They can also be asked to provide occasional assistance when called upon during shortage of health workers in the hospital,” he said.