OUR LEGACY :THE HEALTH RESPONSIVENESS PARADIGM
INSP MICHELLE H CASTRO
           
            Medical responsiveness is our reason for existence. In line with this, Health and Emergency Management Division (HEMD)-NHQ and its nationwide counterparts, utilizing its 694 personnel and 82 ambulances had a turn-out of 863 responses and 68,223 patients served as of third semester this year. For Dental Services nationwide, there were 14,849 dental treatments and 11,851 consultations done.  PT Rehabilitation Sections nationwide had facilitated 732 therapeutic exercises, 766 electrotherapy, 697 hydrotherapy and 4,121 BP Monitoring.

            Top 10 medical cases brought to the HEMD attention were as follows (in order of increasing frequency of consultations): pneumonia, gastroenteritis, asthma, arthritis, urinary tract infection, coughs/colds, headaches/migraines, diabetes mellitus, upper respiratory tract infection and hypertension.

            Also, BFP continues to figure prominently in public health responsiveness. 2010 has seen 4,793 (medical) and 294 (dental) civilian patients benefiting from the 11 medical-dental missions that have taken the HEMD-NHQ around NCR Bocaue, Bulacan, Binan, Laguna and as far as Alabat, Quezon.

            EMS personnel actively discharged their duties during OplanLakbayAlalay on this year’s Holy Week and OplanKaluluwa on All Saints’ Day.  They were deployed at major routes and in the case of OplanKaluluwa, cemeteries such as the Himlayang Filipino in TandangSora, Quezon City, to render public assistance in the form of BP monitoring and medical interventions.

            HEMD’s adept head, SSUPT JOSEPH B BACAREZA, MD continues his active membership in Inter-Agency Technical Working Groups (TWG).Most noteworthy of these are for the passage of the proposed EMS Bill, which would professionalize EMTs and ensure efficient EMS inter-operability in our country, and for crafting of the Policy forAmbulances Standardization in the Philippines.

            Basic Emergency Medical Trainor’s Training and Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing was held 11-15 Julyat the Gems Hotel and Conference Center, Antipolo City. Thirty (30) would-be trainors were given the opportunity to further hone their medical response and psychological debriefing skills in the seminar. HEMD also acted as Secretariat in the inter-agency, Canadian Embassy-sponsoredChemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Training held on 27-30 September at Camp Crame, which added another fifty-three (53)capable, Filipino responders 11 of them are BFP personnel. This is in line with the BFP Strategic Plan 2009-2014 of ensuring a bigger pool of emergency medical and rescue responders thru trainings and re-trainings.

            In their continuing professional education efforts, HEMD personnel went on to attend the 17thEmergency Medical Technicians Annual Convention: Leapfrogging EMS Development in the Philippines held on 27-28 October at the Hyatt Hotel & Casino, Manila, and the Philippine Dental Association102nd Annual Convention and Scientific Meeting held at the SSM Central Business Park, Pasay City on 19-24 October. Attendance to these events ensures BFP medical personnel are abreast with the latest developments in their fields of expertise.

            On track of the organizational restructure implemented last July 2010, rest assured that the legacy HEMD leaves behind will be carried on by its two offshoots, the Medical Services Unit and the Emergency Medical Response Unit.Our Health Responsiveness Paradigm - Heart,  Expertise, Meticulousness and Dedication , HEMD lives on!