‘Fortunate’ that woman in MRT accident immediately aided by fellow rider, an intern — DOTr exec

It was fortunate that a medical intern riding the MRT-3 was able to administer first aid immediately to the woman who lost her arm in an accident in Ayala station on Tuesday, said Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez.

His statement was cited in a report by Steve Dailisan on Balitanghali on Wednesday.

A video of first responders attending to the 24-year-old Angeline Fernando showed a woman and a police officer giving first aid to the victim, whose right arm was confirmed severed after she fell between two cars of a moving train on Tuesday afternoon, before she was rushed to a hospital.

The post-graduate medical intern, Charleanne Jandic, has reportedly been thanked by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for administering immediate help to Fernando.

MRT3 officials, however, claimed they have personnel trained to give first aid in case of accidents.

Jandic confirmed to GMA News Online that she indeed aided Fernando, and clarified she has a medical degree but does not yet have a license.

It was only a matter of timing that she was at the station at all, she said in an online exchange, as she was simply on the way to visit an aunt.

She explained first aid strategies differ depending on the situation. In Fernando's case, Jandic said her priority was to stanch the bleeding by tying a tourniquet around the bleeding area.

In the end, she settled for a cardigan that someone had passed along, as well as a cop's belt, to tie around the stump of Fernando's severed arm.

She instructed station guards to call for an ambulance as she checked the victim for other injuries, but the main concern was the most obvious. "Medyo mahirap nang konti kasi duguan siya, so nag-focus ako doon sa pinaka-concern, which is ang naputol na bahagi ng braso niya," she said.

Jadic said she was thankful to the guards, who followed her instructions and looked as if they had some first aid training. The incident simply may have been beyond their capability, she added.

"Siguro po further first aid training [ang kailangan] to cover situations gaya ng kahapon," she said.

She said she waited at the Makati Medical Center until Fernando was stable, which was when she made her leave. Her aunt, she said, was waiting for her.

Accident's aftermath

The report said the train’s bogie, or a structure carrying wheelsets, rolled over Fernando’s arm, contrary to initial claims that she had fallen into the coupler linking two train cars.

The grim event took on a more positive tone when Chavez told reporters Wednesday morning that surgeons had successfully reattached Fernando’s arm.

She is in stable condition but remains under observation, and it has yet to be seen whether she could use her right arm again.

The report said she is undergoing skin grafting, or a surgical procedure that refers to transplanting skin from one area of the body to another in the event of damage due to injury or disease.

The DOTr said that with an annual P60-million insurance on standby, it is shouldering the victim's hospital and medical expenses of the victim.

The accident prompted transportation officials to consider installing platform screen doors—gates preventing anyone from falling off the platform and into the tracks—similar to those in developed countries, but such a purpose has not yet been included in this year’s budget appropriation for the train line.

Newer train lines, such as the Manila-Clark Railway and the Mega Manila Subway project, will reportedly have platform screen doors.

In the absence of such a safety precaution, the DOTr advised MRT3 passengers prone to dizziness, such as the elderly and pregnant women, to alert security personnel should they need assistance.

The accident also raised the need for more security personnel guarding the stations, and for first aid kits to be affixed next to each station’s fire extinguisher.

But Chavez of the DOTr maintained that Tuesday’s incident was an “isolated” one and that it had nothing to do with the MRT3’s glitch-marred performance allegedly owing to poor maintenance.

MRT3 and transportation officials have earned the ire of the train line’s riders for its frequent service-interrupting technical problems, which cause cases of passenger unloading on a near-daily basis.

The DOTr has recently axed the MRT3’s maintenance provider for allegedly failing to meet the performance level expected of it, among other grounds. — BM, GMA News