PH emergency medical team assists 140 patients in Myanmar — OCD
The Philippines deploys emergency medical assistance for earthquake-hit Myanmar. (Photo from the Office of Civil Defense)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT) treated 140 patients in earthquake-hit Myanmar on Saturday, the Office of the Civil Defence (OCD) said on Sunday.
The OCD said the PEMAT Type 1 Fixed Hospital, located near Bomingaung Temple, assisted 136 Burmese and four Filipinos.
Of this figure, General Medicine emerged as the top medical cases with 117 cases, followed by Surgical (15 cases), Pediatric (four cases), Orthopedic (three cases), and OB-GYN (one case).
The OCD added that top consultation causes were: hypertension; type II diabetes; hypertensive crisis; arthrosis; muscle and urinary disorders; wrist/hand injuries; conjunctivitis; pneumonia; and dorsalgia.
In a separate statement, the Department of Health said that the PEMAT Visayas assisted a total of 268 patients from April 2 to April 5. Of this figure, 34 were treated in hospital augmentation and 234 in base camp operations.
READ: PH team arrives in Myanmar for two-week deployment to help quake victims
The PEMAT has 32 members, which are among the only 52 emergency teams globally certified by the World Health Organization for international deployment. The emergency team is composed of doctors, nurses, medical technologists, pharmacists, midwives, nursing attendants, administrative, logistics and technical staff.
Further, OCD’s latest situation report as of Sunday said that the Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent Urban Search and Rescue Team (PIAHC USR) resumed operations at the Jade City Hotel.
The area was also organized into designated worksites, with efforts of Search and Rescue teams of Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore, alongside Myanmar personnel.
The PIAHC USAR team helped in retrieval of victims from the Entertainment building basement, but the assessment of the building’s stability led to the suspension of the operation due to safety concerns.
READ: Myanmar quake death toll passes 3,300 – state media
Myanmar state media said on Saturday that the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck the country last March 28 resulted in 3,354 deaths and 4,508 people injured, with 220 people still missing.
