Tabuk City, Kalinga – “Maymayat nga aminen tayo nu adda ti kamali, tapnu ngay mai-correct tayo,” this is what the Barangay Captain of Magsaysay, Tabuk City has to say when asked of his sentiment during the committee hearing on Thursday, October 13 at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Hall.
The hearing was conducted by the provincial Committee on Human Rights, Public Order and Security, and Committee on Health and Sanitation to answer the issues raised by Atty. Johnny Wayet, concerning the emergency response of KPH.
Incident leading to the hearing
The issues stemmed from a vehicular accident that took away the life of a student who was set to travel to Brisbane, Australia in September as an international student and scholar.
The incident happened along the national road at FF Cruz, Bulanao, Tabuk which led to the death of Wayet’s nephew, Eldridge Wadi Wayet Bacud, 19, single, and was a resident of Magsaysay, Tabuk City.
Wayet narrated that at 5:30 PM of September 02, 2022, Bacud, who was on board his motorcycle, was then traversing Kalinga-Mountain Province Provincial Road from Calanan towards Bulanao.
A tricycle traversing the opposite lane executed a U-turn between a concrete barrier and collided with Bacud’s motorcycle.
The victim was brought to KPH by a concerned citizen and was said to be conscious and conversant at the time. Upon admission, he was subjected to Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and tested positive.
The victim’s family believes that the result of the RAT delayed his immediate medical and surgical attention who was supposed to be transported to St. Paul’s Hospital or CVMC.
The request for a CT scan also took time due to the unavailability of the ambulance for those who tested positive.
Five hours later, Bacud was declared dead. It was then that Wayet requested the re-swabbing for Real-Time Reverse Transcription–Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) purposes. The specimen transported to San Antonio City in Ilagan Hospital yielded negative.
In his letter to the SP, Wayet raised the following issues:
Whether RAT shall apply to victims of vehicular accidents, emergencies, or where the patient’s life is at stake needing immediate medical/surgical attention;
Whether decking of patients is covered by health protocols so that even those in dire need of surgical emergencies must wait for their turn to be treated or transported to hospitals with better medical facilities;
Whether there are lapses in the judgment on the part of the concerned personnel of Kalinga Provincial Hospital in treating patients with extreme emergency cases such as in the instant case; and
Whether RAT is conclusive and no longer subject to confirmatory testing in a Molecular Detection Facility.
Wayet likewise wishes for those in charge of ambulance to refrain from asking money from the patient’s family for gas purposes. The discourteous acts of some hospital personnel should further be addressed.
Punong Barangay Sagayo’s take
During the said hearing, Punong Barangay Enrique Sagayo recalled the time when he was repeatedly called by the personnel of the City Health Office, instructing him to ask the family to immediately bury the dead due to his positive result.
“Makitkita tayo ti ladingit da, siyempre maguyod ti karirikna tayo isunga kunak… ikkan tayo ti gundaway. Katungtung ko met ti pamilya, urayen tayo lang man diay resulta diay (swab) idiay Ilagan kunana isunga anya ngay ngarud, both side a ket ikkan tayo iti tyansa,” he relayed.
“Uray siak, siguro nu pamilyak diay met wennu siak diay met ket ay apu… mailem-lemmeng pay ah, mailem-lemmeng idiay ayan da ta dagitoy piman. Di inyawid da idiay, napan da inlemmeng tapnu laeng han nga mabulabog ti ka-barangayan ta kunada garud nga COVID, rengrengen da piman, santu lang naglukat dayta idi rinumwar diay negative result iti swab test na ket nabantayan,” the barangay captain added.
Also, Sagayo shared that based on stories he heard in his village, the people are afraid to have themselves be checked at the said government hospital as they may be diagnosed with COVID-19 that will require costly medication.
“Ti pangkitkita tayo ti KPH, nu mapan tayo idiay, COVID ti sakit mun. Kasdiay ti panangkitkita da, ibagak lang. Siak maysa ak nga kapitan nga agdengdengngeg, uray lang idiay barangay ko, mabuteng dan nga mapan agpa-check up,” he expressed.
The village chief then urged the heads of the hospital to admit if there are lapses, so the system will be fixed and that, in turn, will encourage the public to trust the hospital in return.
Kalinga Provincial Legal Office committed to undertaking an investigation on said matters.
LISTEN TO STATION 1 RADIO: CLICK ME
.png)
Comments