Nagtapos ang first batch ng paramedics o responders na kumuha ng Emergency Response Services (EMR) training.
Binubuo ito ng 85 students na pawang mga professionals. Ilan pa nga sa kanila ay mga doktor, nars, at pulis.
Ang EMR training ay naganap sa Dr. R. A. Fernando School of Healthcare Technology, Inc., na matatagpuan sa Taft Avenue, Pasay City, at suportado ng Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Si Marylou Hontiveros-Fernando, presidente ng school, ang nakaisip at nagpursige na magkaroon ng paramedic training sa bansa.
Ito ay bunsod ng sarili niyang karanasan.
Panimulang kuwento niya:
"I'm from the U.S. But then, when we were here, we’re supposed to help the governor of Marinduque with their hospital.
“My husband is a medical doctor. He [had] a heart attack...
"Yung condo ko is only 10 minutes to San Juan de Dios [Hospital in Manila]. But because of the traffic, wala kasi ditong respect sa ambulance or anything, di ba?
“Hindi gaya sa States na pag narinig mong ambulansiya, tatabi ka sa bangketa.
“So, that’s the reason kaya hindi umabot sa ospital ang asawa ko. Because there’s no
paramedic, so he died."
Bumalik ng U.S. si Marylou, at pagkalipas ng dalawang taon, ginawa niyang "passion" ang pagbuo ng EMR training.
"If I could save just save one life, it’s worth my husband's dying," saad ni Marylou.
Nakapanayam siya ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) at ilang entertainment reporters sa graduation ceremony ng mga sumailalim sa EMR training.
Ginanap ang event sa Sheraton Manila Bay sa Malate, Manila, noong March 10, 2025.
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TESDA SUPPORTS TRAINING FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE SERVICES
"Non-training regulation" o NTR ang EMR training.
Ibig sabihin, ito ay isang programa na hindi sakop ng "standardized training regulations" at "competency-based curriculum and assessment" ng TESDA.
Paliwanag ni Marylou: "Kasi itong paramedic natin na curriculum was developed abroad, so this is U.S.-standard paramedic.
“So nung dinala ko rito sa TESDA, they approved it as an NTR.
"But since it’s an NTR, they will not give a budget. Hindi niya [TESDA] priority project."
Ganunpaman, nagpasalamat pa rin si Marylou na in-endorso ni Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez ang kanyang passion project.
Si Benitez ang itinalagang director general ng TESDA mula noong August 2024.
Ani Marylou patungkol kay Benitez: "And then, I was so lucky. Really talaga, it’s God’s will that he became the secretary of TESDA.
"And he himself, I keep on telling everybody, he knows the importance of paramedic because he was a paramedic volunteer in the U.S."
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IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
Ipinaliwanag ni Benitez kung bakit suportado niya ang training:
"Obviously, I think it’s clear naman to everybody that there is a need for professionalizing and ensuring that we have a baseline for the skills and technical capacities for emergency response.
“Which is why Marylou and the Dr. R.A. Fernando School devised this training that helps capacitate first responders for emergencies of many kinds.
"And it is after all a benchmark on the training that is expected for example in the United States.
"To make sure that the capacity is at least matched."
Nagbigay ng halimbawa si Benitez tungkol sa kahalagahan ng skill na ito.
Lahad ni Benitez: "Kung na-heart attack ka, you only have, at most, seven to ten minutes before the oxygen deprivation in your brain causes death.
"So, in that span of time, for example, kapag nahagilap ka ng paramedic, anong gagawin niya? To make sure na you are breathing properly or your heart is moving. They’re pumping blood again into your brain and so on and so forth.
"Considering kung saan ka nanggaling na aksidente or kung saan ka naabutan ng may
heart attack, at sa traffic lang, hindi mo maaabot [yung ospital], di ba?"
Ibinigay ding halimbawa ni Benitez ang pagresponde sa mga aksidente.
"So naaksidente, may napilayan na dumudugo. How do you stop bleeding para [makaabot siya] sa ospital where you can get more sophisticated equipment and more medical attention?"
Kung mas marami raw ang mati-train na first responders ay malaking tulong daw sa mga emergency situations.
Diin ni Benitez: "Naitatawid ka, di ba? Mabigyan ka na ng treatment as first
responders.
"A little bit just beyond first aid, right? Coz it’s a little bit more advanced and complex for that level of emergency."
May dagdag din si Marylou sa aniya'y kahalagahan ng first responders.
Lahad ni Marylou: "Ang isa ang importance ng paramedic is that in an emergency
everybody calls 911.
"Darating amg ambulansiya. Without a paramedic, dadalhin nila sa ospital when this patient doesn’t really need emergency care.
"With a paramedic right there and there, the paramedic can assess the patient and then decide, ‘O, eto ba kailangan ka bang i-ospital?’
"Or he could just give medication and then send them home.
"Para ang ipapadala natin sa emergency are only the people that really need emergency treatment."
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TRAINING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS?
Muling mag-uusap ang TESDA at Dr. R.A. Fernando School of Healthcare Technology, Inc. upang malaman kung ilang training pa ng EMR ang maaaring gawin ngayong taon.
Kailangan pa raw bumuo ng team of instructors para sa training program.
Ang first batch of responders ay sumailalim sa "35 intensive training days," ayon kay Marylou.
Pero may planong i-offer ito bilang two-year course para sa mga high-school students.
Umaasa si Benitez na madadagdagan pa ang mga estudyante ng Dr. R.A.
Fernando School of Healthcare Technology, Inc.
“I mean, the Red Cross does their share and so on. But, any more, the more people we can capacitate, the better it is, ‘no.
"If it saves just one life, then it’s worth it."