UST HOSPITAL has appealed for understanding from its front-line health workers amid a global shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) against the coronavirus.
The hospital made the appeal after photos of some nurses wearing raincoats spread on social media last week. There were also complaints that some PPEs went to frontliners in non-Covid-19 areas.
“The circulating posts on social media about ‘misallocation of personal protective equipment (PPE)’ are unfounded, unfair, and uncalled for during this crisis,” UST Hospital said in a statement on April 7.
“At one point, the hospital had to resort to raincoats as a third layer PPE when it ran out of stocks of recommended PPEs and hazmat suits. With the global shortage of PPEs at that time, and the hospital awaiting for its ordered PPEs to arrive, this was a contingency measure to be able to continue to serve the admitted CoVid patients,” it explained.
One of the posts was made by a nurse who said she was worried over the use of improvised PPEs.
“Do I feel protected on this PPE? Of course not totally. Pero I need to continue my duty to serve kahit ganito lang prinoprovide samin. Hindi lang saming nurses and nurse aides, kahit sa mga residents. It can be better, it could have been ideal. But at least meron kaysa sa wala,” the nurse said in her Facebook post last week.
Following the viral posts, hospital workers were told not to upload photos taken from anywhere in the hospital without management approval, a source said.
A UST Hospital nurse told the Varsitarian that they have received proper PPEs through a donation drive.
In its statement, the hospital also called for prayers for frontliners and expressed its gratitude to individuals and organizations have who donated food and equipment.
Below is UST Hospital’s statement:
The circulating posts on social media about “misallocation of personal protective equipment (PPE)” are unfounded, unfair, and uncalled for during this crisis. At one point, the hospital had to resort to raincoats as third layer PPE when it ran out of stocks of recommended PPEs and hazmat suits. With the global shortage of PPEs at that time, and the hospital awaiting for its ordered PPEs to arrive, this was a contingency measure to be able to continue to serve the admitted CoVid patients. Some of the donated PPEs were actually raincoats and these were acceptable alternatives during exigencies in the absence of the ideal PPEs. This strategy was also done even in other hospitals in order to protect the frontliners. The hospital will never risk the safety of its frontline staff.
As the PPEs became available, the hospital was able to provide the healthcare workers the standard PPE requirement. With the continued rise in the number of CoVid related cases admitted everyday, an average of 300-400 PPEs are consumed each day.
There is no truth to misallocation of equipment. All donated equipment are logged in and properly accounted for, and released to the units needing them. There is no truth to the allegation that donated PPEs are charged to the patients. We only charge for the PPEs that were purchased by the hospital. Donated PPEs are just recorded and accounted for, and released to the staff in the individual units for use.
We continue to thank all individuals and organizations who donated food and equipment for the healthcare staff and who neverendingly show support for our workers.
This pandemic situation must be viewed by people with kindness especially to those who are working dedicatedly to serve the CoViD patients. It will be kindness by not attacking every single action just to survive the situation. The least that one can do for this pandemic situation, is to view kindly the circumstances that every hospital is in. We request for everyone’s understanding as we continue to battle this CoVid pandemic.
On a positive note, today, April 7, 2020, we have discharged our 12th CoVid positive patient clinically well, a 75 year old patient with chronic lung disease and cardiac comorbidity and a protracted course of CoVid disease with recurrent severe bacterial pneumonia, eventually treated and fully recovered with 2 negative swab tests. This is a major victory for the institution in our battle against the pandemic. We thank the Lord for continuing to give us strength amidst all the challenges we face. We thank the doctors, residents and fellows, nurses, aides, support staff, and janitors who serve our patients.
As we look forward to a different Easter, we continue to pray for our healthcare workers, our frontliners and their family and loved ones home, our patients currently afflicted with this disease, and for the institution. We also mourn and pray for the souls of the patients and other colleagues from other institutions who lost the fight to this dreaded scourge.
