Pre-hospital care refers to medical services that are provided by first-line responders at the time and site of emergency, even before the patient reaches a health facility. These are essential to survival in acute life-threatening cases, because instituting initial management and the smooth transfer of patients helps mitigate delays and prevent fatal complications. Good pre-hospital care involves the presence of knowledgeable responders, means for transport, ample equipment, and communication with the health institution – which the communities introduced in Ambulansiyang de Paa did not have.
In the documentary, many members of the community were impoverished, suffering from conditions such as malnutrition and otherwise treatable infectious diseases. Finances and location posed significant limitations. The need to traverse dangerous terrain for at least 4 hours (with only a hammock as a makeshift ambulance) kept them from seeking care and receiving treatment early into the course of their diseases. Hence, they were often forced to resort to alternative remedies that were inappropriate for their conditions, and be transported only when their lives were already on the line. In worst case scenarios, patients would die midway, or they arrive at the facility only to find out that there is no doctor on call.
The fact that a significant number of our countrymen still live in such conditions is devastating. So many lives can be saved if communities were equipped to recognize their medical conditions, and if their living conditions allowed them basic necessities such as water, electricity, food, and sanitation. It is also evident that local governments need resources to ensure that their facilities are well-stocked and well-manned, that roads safe and passable especially during emergencies, and that social support can be made available in times of need. This strengthens the fact that we need good governance and adequate investment for the improvement of our healthcare system, so that timely pre-hospital care can be provided – even before conditions become a matter of life and death. Filipinos deserve nothing less.