FOUR barangays have been tapped by the City Health Services Office (CHSO) to provide transportation for COVID-19 patients in augmentation of the city’s strained patient transport capabilities.
Barangays Trancoville, Pacdal, Gibraltar, and Burnham-Legarda have provided vehicles earmarked for the transportation of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients for their respective districts, but City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) Officer-in-Charge Antonette Anaban urged the city’s other barangays to also provide similar services for their districts.
Normally, the Baguio City Emergency Medical Service (BCEMS) is in charge of the transportation of patients in the city, with the CDRRMO assisting by covering the need for inter-facility transport, as well as the sending home of discharged patients.
However, with the current spike in COVID-19 cases in the city, the BCEMS is stretched too thin to properly respond, with the limited number of ambulances and other vehicles insufficient for the current demand.
According to Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, the city has had an average case total of 240 per day, with 92 percent of the city’s barangays having at least one active case.
The vehicles from the four barangays were inspected by CHSO Medical Officer and Baguio City Emergency Medical Service head Dr. Dandeo Halog and Sanitation Division Chief Engr. Charles Carame and deemed fit for the transport of COVID-19 patients.
Other measures are also being mulled over by the city in cooperation with the Traffic and Transport technical working group to address the greater need for patient transpor
