The ambulances of the city will not be used to shuttle COVID-19 positive patients.
“I have ordered (before) not to use the ambulance if it is not an emergency case for the patient because ambulances are for emergencies,” said Mayor Sara Duterte during her radio broadcast at Davao City Disaster Radio on Wednesday.
The city government already assigned vehicles for non-critical patients to be transported to the Southern Philippines Medical Center. “Meaning they are not in need of ventilators or oxygen, so it’s not a medical emergency. We will not use ambulances,” Duterte said.
The Central 911 ambulances will only be used in matters of life and death, she said.
“There are also patients in need of emergency transport in our hospitals. So what we are using for non-emergency persons under investigation (PUI) referrals are service vehicles. We are collecting them (patients) and then we bring them to SPMC,” Duterte said.
Duterte also noted that this is the same system used by SPMC for the dispatch of the suspected COTIV-19 patients. Once the patient arrives, the doctors will determine if the government hospital will take them in or transfer to any of the city’s centers for patients under investigation.
