Monday, October 27, 2014
The past two
exposures of Team Luop in the barangay has been all about referral of different
cases including trauma cases such as domestic violence and vehicular accidents.
It has been almost daily during the latest exposure too that the Team of
Medical students have been referring cases to the Provincial hospital and Rural
health unit. This is primarily the reason why the team sees it fit to create a
referral system of not only trauma cases, but of common diseases as well.
Initially, the community people
complained of the health station being the least functional that it could be –
stating that the EPI and Pre-natal check-ups were conducted only once a month, but the records of their maternal and child care have been on a very clean
slate of excellence. So the team wondered what it was that needed improvement
for the community people.
It was then realized that what
really lacked was the referral of cases which cannot be handled from the grass
roots. Cases such as hypertensive emergency, domestic violence and vehicular
accidents are part of the health station’s responsibility that a few or even
none know how to approach. Moreover, apart from the lack of knowledge on
handling of cases and their referral, the distance of the barangay from the
provincial hospital or RHU make it extremely difficult for patients from the
barangay to go to these places.
Active Luop Emergency Response team
was born out of the idea that handling of cases first-hand and referral should be
done by knowledgeable people within the community itself. This is why a core
team was formed. Composed of the same members with the AHA!, the ALERT core
group exists to respond to emergency and non-emergency cases and refer them to
the appropriate places for treatment and management. It was deemed necessary to
have the AHA! and ALERT team to share their members to avoid crowding in the
health station when they have their duties, and so as to be able to address
both emergent and non-emergent cases common in the community.
The ALERT had their first session
last October 13, 2014 where they set things straight by delineating the tasks
and responsibilities of the core team. The group was also asked to list down the
most common forms of emergencies that happens in the community and this
included wounds and bleeding, animal bites, poisoning, fractures, and burns. They
have also been given a lecture on basic first aid, which was preceded by a post
test.
A second session was conducted
thereafter on October 15, 2014 where the top 5 listed emergency cases were
discussed thoroughly and was immediately followed by a post test.
To address the issue on patient
transport, which is one of the problems identified for case referral, a session
on proper patient transport was done last October 17, 2014. The members of the
core team were initially asked to identify the different ways they know of how
to transport patients, and a formal lecture followed. Knowledge was assessed
through a post-test done directly after the end of the lecture.
Finally, last October 21, 2014, the
members of the ALERT core team along with their Project Coordinator, Ms. Mary
Antonette Torres, met to discuss their tasks and responsibilities as a team. It
was also a day made especially to create their Vision, Mission, and schedule of
BHS rotation. They also tackled on the request for budget from the IRA and
tried to identify a vehicle which the community would use for transport of
patients. More importantly, the group was taught on the proper method of recording
and reporting patients – a feat they have to do while the medical students are
away.
