Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City is now on the hunt for more ambulances to serve individuals who need medical care as the recent death of a woman inside an ambulance while waiting outside the hospital has raised concern for the lack of facilities.
Councilor David Tumulak, told CDN Digital, that they had recorded an incident on July 24, 2021, where a 28-year-old call center agent with asthma died inside the ambulance because no hospital could cater to her.
Hospitals capable of handling COVID-19 cases have been overwhelmed and “full to the brim” in the past weeks as reported by Dr. Peter Mancao, the deputy task force leader in the Cebu City North District.
The long queues have become a factor for life and death for the patients who are stuck in the ambulance while waiting for medical services.
In the case of the 28-year-old, Tumulak said, the patient was isolated in a hotel even if she already experiencing severe symptoms of COVID-19 due to the lack of space in the hospitals.
On July 14, 2021, the patient’s oxygen saturation dropped to 40 percent and she was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was not admitted because the hospital was full.
The woman needed intubation, but the medics could not do so in the ambulance, and she died shortly after.
So far, no other deaths inside ambulances had been reported, but Tumulak said the city would need more ambulances to attend to sick individuals needing hospital admission.
Tumulak met with the barangays on Friday, July 29, 2021, and at least seven barangays already pledged to allow the use of their ambulances by the city for patients.
These barangays include Kalunasan, Guadalupe, Ermita, Sudlon I, Pamutan, Lorega San Miguel, and Budlaan.
The councilor said more barangays are expected to pledge their ambulances as the city would be funding the maintenance and the gas for these ambulances.
At least 11 ambulances will now be ready for deployment anytime either for extraction, for accidents, and for medical emergencies.
Tumulak said the city badly needed the ambulances because the queues were long and the patients would need medical care that could sustain them until admission.
He appealed to more barangays to offer their ambulances for the city’s use.
“Dako kaayo ning tabang nato ang ambulansya kay taas na ang linya, bisan man lang mabantayan lang ang mga paseyente while naghulat,” he said.
(The ambulances, where patients can be monitored, are a big help to us because of the long queues of patients at the hospitals.)
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