The documentary of Kara David, “Ambulansyang-de-Paa”, made me remember what we learned in LU3 about “Doctors to the Barrio” and the lack of medical facilities in the provinces. The short film shows the lack of knowledge the filipinos in the provinces have with regards on how to handle medical conditions, and how important it is to act on them as soon as possible to avoid complications. However, their lack of doctors, more so those who specialize in emergency medicine, prevents them from getting access to quality health care.
In the film, two children suffering with tuberculosis, intestinal hernia, malnutrition, among others that are yet to be determined, have worsened because of neglect. Furthermore, the time spent on travel on foot is not accompanied by any doctor or medical equipment who/that can perform pre-hospital care, unlike here in Metro Manila where ambulances actually exist.
Pre-hospital care is very important as it improves patient outcomes, most especially those with acute-life threatening conditions such as a heart attack or other time-sensitive illnesses. This is usually done by doctors specializing in emergency medicine, who are the health providers at the scene of a disaster. It is because of them that life is prolonged and death is avoided before it is too late.
It is heartbreaking that aside from the absence of doctors, the citizens of the province itself lack knowledge on how to do pre-hospital care. In the video, they showed Kara David multivitamins and a sachet of coffee as treatment for tuberculosis! In addition, the father of John Lloyd preferred to go back home instead of admitting his son in the hospital when he is already there.
Comparing what is happening in the film to what we have in Metro Manila, we really get to see what we have here and what they lack there—that is, how fortunate we are to have shining hospitals full of expensive machines and ambulances that will only take us minutes to get to the hospital. We get to see how healthier we all are here, compared to those living in the mountains where most children have intestinal hernia or suffering from malnutrition. I can only imagine how a person dying because of bleeding or how a person who is having a heart attack will survive if it takes 4 hours to get to the hospital, only to find out there is no doctor in site due to a seminar. So what is the importance of pre-hospital care? I am pretty sure that without it, there will be an increase in the number of deaths per day, souls that could have been saved, and cries from family members who only wished they could have done something if only they knew more.