CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) conducted a simulation exercise for a possible case of 2019-novel coronavirus acute respiratory disorder ( 2019-nCov ARD) on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.
Councilor David Tumulak, the City Council’s chairperson for the committee on disaster risk reduction and management, said the simulation was done to ensure that paramedics and quick response teams know what to do should a case is reported and needs a quick response.
Tumulak said the simulation was successful as the patient was taken swiftly and peacefully out of the Cebu City Hall.
He reiterated that the process of identification starts from the attending emergency paramedic in gathering all information including the symptoms of the patient and if he has any travel history in China especially from Wuhan City from the Hubei province.
After all this information has been gathered, emergency paramedics are required to immediately call the Department of Health’s (DOH) Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Resu) and the Cebu City Health Department (CHD) in the case of a suspected 2019-nCov.
The Resu and the CHD will immediately coordinate to send a quick response team to handle the case equipped with the proper personal protective equipment (PPE).
While the ambulance is on its way, the emergency paramedics handling the patient must cordon the area to avoid people from getting near the patient.
“Nakita nato no nga pag simulation nato, nanagan ang mga tawo palayo, murag nagpanic. Dapat kalma lang ta basta naay ing-ani nga kaso,” said Tumulak.
(We saw that during the simulation, the public started running away from the patient in panic. This should not be the case if this happened in real life.)
Tumulak said the public should instead calmly move away from the cordoned area so as not to block the passageway or risk contraction of the virus.
In Tumulak’s assessment of the simulation exercise, he said there is a need to purchase more PPE for the paramedics. Should a real case be responded to, the PPEs will need to be incinerated after use to avoid the spread of the virus.
Tumulak urges the CDRRMO to purchase more PPEs for the paramedics to keep them safe especially now that Cebu City has been identified as the host of one of the quarantine venues following 14-day travel ban of travelers from China. /rcg