MANILA – Get ready to enter the most hazardous place during the pandemic -- inside the emergency room and intensive care unit (ICU) of East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), where severe and critical coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients are admitted and treated by healthcare workers, through the third episode of the “Laging Handa Dokyu” series entitled “Hot Zone."
The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), through the Office of the Global Media and Public Affairs (OGMPA), was given exclusive access inside the EAMC to witness how the healthcare workers risk their lives and fight very hard every single day to win this battle against the dreaded virus and, at the same time, how Covid-19 patients fight for their lives.
“The proactive efforts of our government in addressing the rising cases of Covid-19 is to increase the number of treatment and isolation facilities in our country, as part of the national Covid-19 response through the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate framework,” PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said.
Through the treatment component of the strategy, Andanar said the One Hospital Command Center was created in support of Filipinos hit by the coronavirus to ensure that they will be admitted in the right healthcare facility to receive their necessary treatment.
The EAMC is part of Department of Health’s One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) which is a healthcare referral network linked with service providers such as hospitals, quarantine facilities, and medical transportation.
OHCC effectively reduces the waiting time of patients by referring them to the appropriate health facility that can best provide for the level of care they require.
“PCOO holds an important role in informing the public of the government’s responses, actions, and programs against Covid-19. We have been intensifying our role to provide relevant news and information for the public to avoid unnecessary false information about the Covid-19 situation in the country,” Andanar earlier said.
The EAMC's recently inaugurated Center For Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Disease Building (CERID) is a six-story building that can accommodate over 250 Covid-19 patients with severe and critical conditions.
It has its own emergency room, two ICUs, pediatric ward, and labor and delivery room. The number of patients being admitted daily before the pandemic is about 1,000 on average, which exceeds the hospital's authorized capacity of 600 people.
The CERID is an additional support for EAMC’s increased number of Covid-19 patients admitted during this pandemic.
"It is a must to watch this short documentary so the public will know what our government is doing to treat the Covid-19 patients. This short docu is also an eye-opener for me because I have witnessed not only the problems brought by this pandemic but also the solutions being provided by our government," PCOO Assistant Secretary JV Arcena said.
Meanwhile, the succeeding episodes of the Laging Handa Dokyu will put the spotlight on the country’s testing laboratories, participation on clinical trials, the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers, contact tracing and testing efforts, the best practices of local government units, and the experiences of some personalities hit by Covid-19.
Catch the third episode of the Laging Handa Dokyu series entitled "Hot Zone" tonight at 9:30 p.m. on PTV-4 and IBC-13. It will also be livestreamed on the PCOO’s social media accounts, National Task Force Covid-19 page, and other government-affiliated pages.
Media outlets are free to share and use our video materials and short documentaries. For inquiries, please e-mail us at [email protected]. (PCOO PR)
