The tragic Covid-related death of a retired nurse in Laguna recently has spotlighted capability issues of local governments in the country in effectively coping against a deadly virus which to this day continues to wreck havoc on the health and lives of many of our people.
There is thus a need for local governments to heighten their capabilities in fighting Covid-19.
Making the rounds of social media was the story of how a retired nurse from Alaminos Laguna, Dorothy Hernandez Tolentino suffered while being brought from her hometown in Laguna to Metro Manila for treatment.
Her husband Art Tolentino recounted the ordeal when his wife Dorothy, a cancer patient, tested positive for Covid on August 7, 2020.
Art Tolentino wrote on his wife’s struggle:
“On her 5th day of isolation after breakfast, we heard her coughing and complaining of difficulty in breathing. So we requested assistance for life saving ambulance from SPC District RHU and Alaminos Health Clinic. Unfortunately, it took more than 6 hours waiting for the Provincial ambulance but could not obtain release of approval.
After follow ups with the Municipal Health Officer with the assistance from our Brgy. Chairman, an L300 makeshift ambulance came, with only the driver wearing a very good PPE, designed to be worn in an ICU setting. Sadly the driver was not prepared for Covid patient rescue. He was not even accompanied by a trained medical worker to assist my wife in her journey and endorsement to the hospital.
The most frustrating part is, the ambulance had no ventilation, very hot (no AC), no oxygen, having a stretcher without bedding & safety body strap. Instead of medics to take my wife from the house, I took my wife using her wheel chair and help her go inside of the ambulance with the driver simply looking & waiting to close the rear door of the van. He did not even bother to check the safety condition of my wife whether she is seating or lying safely on the stretcher before closing the ambulance door. Without seeing a support medic, I sent my daughter to accompany her mom in the trip to endorse her health condition at UP-PGH, which is supposedly not my daughter’s job.
From our barangay, my wife experienced so much difficulties on the very poor condition of the ambulance, moving so fast, without oxygen and with her body shaking due to her unsafe seating condition. My daughter finally fixed her on the stretcher as the vehicle reached and passed along SLEX, with her arms holding her mom to prevent her from being thrown away due to speedy ambulance.
The ambulance reached PGH-ER shortly with my wife almost dying as her oxygen level have dropped at 80%, prompting to give her respirator and emergency treatment. After hospital endorsement, Dodot was Swab tested again, but official test results found her negative against COVID. After 2 days she was Swab tested again also with negative result.
My wife was diagnosed to have a very severe pneumonia, making her intubated for the next 10 days. As her oxygen level could not normalize, she received treatment as if she is a COVID patient. If not only for her strong will to survive and the many people praying for her safety and recovery, my wife could have easily given up her life. Her mind is so strong but her body becomes weaker until she gave up early morning of Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020 due to cardiac arrest.”
The incident highlighted the need to provide more resources also to the local government units and their health facilities to equip them with the necessary facilities to assist patients infected by virus.
While the apparent epicenter of covid seems to be in the Metro Manila area, as seen by a continued recording of daily infections, the local governments need attention to enable them to be more effective in responding to the basic needs of those infected in the provinces.