PNP medical team needs timeout, too
We cannot blame them for not applying because their fear is valid. We have an increased load of patients so how can you encourage them to apply if the government is also only guaranteeing false protection
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said it will reassess the utilization of its own medical front liners, especially those working directly with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.
PNP chief, PGen. Archie Gamboa, made the pronouncement following reports that police doctors and nurses reportedly expressed wanting to call for a timeout due to the exhaustion and quarantine burnout they’ve been experiencing now that the nationwide community quarantine is nearing its sixth month.
“I gave instructions to (PNP Deputy Chief for
Administration) Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan to try to reevaluate also our forces because as you see it, the President said even the PNP will be used already so I said let us reexamine the availability of our medical reserved force,” he added.
Gamboa was referring to President Rodrigo Duterte’s earlier suggestion of enlisting civilian medical workers to augment the uniformed ranks’ efforts in the fight against the viral respiratory disease.
But with the country’s COVID-19 cases breaching 106,000 and infected police personnel already surpassing the 2,000 mark, PNP personnel with medical backgrounds are starting to grow weary and more fearful that they would also fall one by one — if not by fatigue, by also contracting the virus.
As of 3 August, the PNP has logged 2,283 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 related deaths.
A number of policemen is also supervising and operating quarantine facilities situated at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City and the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
The PNP Chief said they will conduct a re-evaluation and possibly a “heart-to-heart” talk with the personnel detailed at the police’s Health Service to hear their grievances.
Gamboa said that while he understands that the PNP’s medical front liners’ concerns are valid, they also have a sworn duty to the flag and people to uphold as public servants.
“We are not authorized to call for a timeout in the PNP. We have to continue. There are a lot of PNP (personnel). We are totaling already to 209,000 so there is no reason why the PNP should also say timeout,” he stated.
Still, Gamboa said he will see to it that there will be no police personnel left behind as they continue to enforce the national government’s health and safety protocols in battling the contagion.
“My guidance to all the unit commander is first, to secure enough PPE (personal protective equipment); and then monitor the health of our personnel. For instance, to observe a number of sleeping hours, rotation (of personnel), and then take many Vitamin C for themselves,” noted the top cop.
`Keep us alive,’ nurses appeal
Meanwhile, a nurses group called for a unified effort across all concerned government agencies to help spare medical workers from COVID-19 so they could continue serving the people amid the pandemic.
I gave instructions to (PNP Deputy Chief for Administration) Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan to try to reevaluate also our forces because as you see it, the President said even the PNP will be used already so I said let us reexamine the availability of our medical reserved force.
Filipino Nurses United (FNU) president Nuse Maristela Abenojar yesterday expressed hope that the government would take advantage of Metro Manila and nearby provinces reverting to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) to recalibrate its strategies.
“What we’re asking now has long been requested back in February, we have already anticipated and projected this problem. Our government officials should also have a sense of urgency,” she said.
Among their pleas include the need to augment the staff within hospitals in anticipation of possible health emergencies.
At present, the average ratio in hospitals stands at one health worker to 12 patients while in the intensive care units one staff handles three patients at the same time.
She said that as early as February, medical workers were already protesting the need to increase the staff through a mass hiring but it was only last April that the Department of Health (DoH) released a memorandum on emergency hiring.
However, the turnout of applicants hardly met the number expected by the agency.
Abenojar said they cannot be blamed for not wanting to apply because of the fear of contracting the virus and the false hope given by officials.
“We cannot blame them for not applying because their fear is valid. We have an increased load of patients so how can you encourage them to apply if the government is also only guaranteeing false protection,” stated Abenojar.
She likewise lamented how health workers are tested for COVID-19 in hospitals where they serve only when they show symptoms when it should be a regularly done every two weeks.
On top of it, the staff don’t often finish their 14-day quarantine because of the lack of medical workers to attend to admitted patients.
Furthermore, the salaries granted do not cover all sectors despite the heightened risk associated with their work.
Abenojar said currently around 400,000 medical graduates in the country are unemployed or misemployed yet still refuse to heed the government’s call to serve at the front lines also because of improper allotment of the benefits and compensation.
“They wouldn’t be thinking twice of applying if they see that there is good compensation,” she said.
Add to that the lack of appropriate medical grade personal protective equipment provided medical front liners.
Abenojar called on the DoH to be transparent with their spending and distribution of PPE as not all hospitals are able to receive despite the millions in budget approved for its allocation.