Kara David’s documentary illustrates the harsh reality of the state of healthcare in a geographically isolated and disadvantaged area in Apnagan, Oriental Mindoro. As the title suggests, Ambulansyang de Paa depicted the utility of an improvised “transportation device” made of a slab of a bamboo tree and a wooden hammock as an ambulance to carry patients to the nearest resource-limited local health center. While an ambulance is crucial for emergency care, pre-hospital care is not simply transporting patients to a more capable facility.
Pre-hospital care is a component of the emergency medical services that focuses on the initial care of patients with life-threatening conditions before arrival to the hospital. Pre-hospital care is especially crucial in certain conditions that require immediate interventions on-site (i.e., trauma, MI, anaphylaxis) to alter the course of the disease process and prevent further complications. While pre-hospital interventions may not be usually sufficient for the overall care of these patients, it buys time to allow for the definitive management later on. In this way, pre-hospital care can significantly improve patient outcomes and reduce overall healthcare costs.
While pre-hospital care is of importance, it is not the only solution to these preexisting problems regarding health inequity. Better governance, improved roads, increased access to healthcare providers and products, etc., are crucial to change the course of Philippine healthcare.