“We are launching a face mask drive for the patients, healthworkers, and interns of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to help their current need for masks and other medical supplies. Financial and logistical support will also be of big help,” posted Tulong Kabataan University of the Philippines (UP) Manila in its Facebook page on the wee hours of Saturday.
Together with the Peoples Struggles Committee of UP Manila University Student Council (USC), they gathered information on the current face masks needs in the hospital.
“We found out that the National Institute of Health (NIH) Central Laboratories are expected to process samples from Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) anytime next week. However, they are out of surgical masks since January because of the Taal eruption,” said Habagat Farrales, co-head of the committee.
The supplier also has limited stocks of N95 masks.
They received information on March 12 that health care personnel and patients in PGH are currently facing a shortage in surgical face masks.
There were also reports the same day that medical clerks – Medicine students serving in the hospital – that they were required to produce their own masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) and were initially excluded from the one week cancellation of classes. The clerks were eventually allowed a break until March 16 and could still be extended.
According to information they got from PGH, here is the list of estimated needs for the next five months:1) 7500 gal alcohol, 70% ethyl
2) 46k pcs. N95 mask, particulate filter respirator, fluid resistant, with NIOSH approval (3M8210/1860)
3) 2M pcs. Disp. Surgical face mask, 3 ply, earloop
4) 32k pcs.mask with wrap around face shield or visor, fog free, fluid resistant, earloop
5) 30000 pcs. Disp. Gown, long sleeved, fluid resistant, universal size
6) 2000 pcs. Disp. Goggles, eyeglass type, plastic
7) 170000 pcs. Shoe cover, disposable
8 ) 5000 kits of PPEs, contents:
– 1 Impervious disp. Gown wrap around
– 1 head cap (bouffant type)
– 1 splash shield face mask
– 1 fluid repellant shoe cover
– 1 pair of nitrile gloves
PGH is designated as the National University Hospital. It is administered and operated by UP Manila.
In the spirit of transparency, the group has also published a donation tracker: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/166J9fMiJNGUFQvs6GS42rbXwuRb5cChdg8Gfr3zqSIg/edit#gid=0
“Limitado lang din kaya gawin ng mga estudyante, student council. We need the government to do their job now. Hindi lang short term solution ang kailangan natin. For the next five months, hindi namin masu-sustain ito na tayo-tayo lang,” said Farrales.
[What students, student councils can do are limited…We don’t need just short term solutions. For the next five months, we cannot sustain this by ourselves.]
The group is set to bring the first set of donations to PGH on Monday. They are also expecting the order of 250 boxes of masks to arrive on Tuesday. They hope to give more face masks, bottles of alcohol and PPEs depending on the donations they will be able to gather.
For donations, please contact Tulong Kabataan UP Manila on Facebook: @TulongKabataanUPM.
