Management of acute life-threatening conditions is usually time-sensitive. Pre-hospital care can prevent further morbidity and mortality since an initial assessment and simultaneous management of the problems detected can already be done before or during transport to an acute care facility or hospital if the necessary medicines, medical supplies, and equipment are available. At the least, it should be able to sustain and stabilize patients until they can coordinate transfer to a facility more capable of providing definitive management.
Pre-hospital care is an important entry-point to the healthcare system, so if that alone is already unavailable, then more people are denied their right and access to health care. The documentary showed that this is the case for many Filipinos, especially those residing in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs), for whom pre-hospital care is not accessible. Aside from the lack or misallocation of funds, poor governance, and lack of resources (both human and non-human), the Philippines being an archipelagic country makes the provision of timely and appropriate pre-hospital care all the more difficult. For those in GIDAs, the nearest health facility could be a mountain, a river, or an island away. In their long and arduous transit, those with life-threatening and emergent conditions can deteriorate and die before they reach the health facility. It explains why many would not bother seeking medical care at all, since the journey subjects the patients and their communities to suffering they wouldn’t have had to experience if only pre-hospital care were available. Even for those who are able make it to a local health center, there is no guarantee that they can receive the treatment they need because their resources may be inadequate. The persistence of these problems until present indicates that several aspects of our healthcare system still need improvement, and it may be prudent to exert greater effort in establishing and strengthening our pre-hospital care system on a local and national scale.