Dr. Raul Jara's former student mourns his teacher's passing; suggests improvements to fight COVID-19
The number of doctors succumbing to the coronavirus disease or COVID-19 in the Philippines is on the rise, and one of the latest casualties is internist-cardiologist Dr. Raul Jara, who passed away on March 24.
One of Dr. Raul Jara's former students, an internist-cardiologist at the Manila Doctors Hospital and former PhilHealth Director, Dr. Anthony 'Tony' Leachon, paid tribute to his teacher in a video he posted on Wednesday morning.
“Si Dr. Raul Jara ay dating Chief ng UP-PGH Section of Cardiology, at siya po ay dating president ng mga cardiologists, isa sa pinakamagaling na cardiologists of our times."
Dr. Tony emphasized the importance of protecting the frontliners by saying, “Ang number one na kailangan nating gawin is to protect the healthcare workers.
"Kaya ang taas ng deaths ng mga doctor ngayon, unang-una, hindi natin sila nabigyan ng protection. Nagkulang tayo sa health care providers natin.”
He then continued to mourn the current situation of doctors and other medical staff in the country, “20-30% according sa data na na-gather ko, ang may sakit (na frotnliners). At namatay na nga ho ang aking teacher.
"Ang teacher ko po ay si Dr. Raul Jara. Namatay ho siya sa Heart Center kaninang madaling araw. Hindi siya namatay sa iba't ibang problema. Namatay siya sa isang virus.”
Dr. Tony then read the touching tribute of Dr. Raul's daughter, which was recently shared by the Philippine Heart Association.
He reflected afterwards by saying, “It's so painful to lose a dad, a relative, a colleague…something na avoidable.
"But despite their suffering, hindi po sila naninisi and they're so humble.
"So, I took it upon myself right now to ventilate some of our problems and hope I can actually give you more insights on this.”
What went wrong?
In the first part of his video, Dr. Tony reviewed past events that lead up to the current Coronavirus health crisis that the country is facing right now. And he pointed out three things that have contributed to it:
1. Late travel ban on China
According to Dr. Tony, the government was a week late in announcing the travel ban on China, and that the best time to have acted aggressively against COVID-19 was when the first death in the Philippines occurred.
It was also the first death outside of China. He said that in the medical field they call it the 'index' or 'patient zero'.
“Dapat po doon tayo naging aggressive. For example, nag-order po tayo dapat ng maraming test kits. Dapat po doon natin inumpisahan.”
2. Lack of test kits
Dr. Tony also said that the number of confirmed cases right now is just the tip of the iceberg, as the lack of test kits is the major roadblock in determining the actual number of infected persons in the country.
“Ang daming PUIs diyan na namamatay na po, na hindi man lang lumalabas po yung resulta. Meron pong seven days, may two weeks na.
"There's an avalanche right now of death in patients na nakikita.
“May iba nga alam na nating PUI, hindi na nga natin natetesting eh.
"Eh ang problema, yung mga PUIs, sila yung carriers eh. They're roaming around the city right now, without confirming, eh sana ina-isolate natin sila kaagad. And I think that is very important eh.”
3. Lack of protection for frontliners
Dr. Tony cited the lack of personal protective equipment or PPE as the main reason why more and more frontliners are dying from COVID-19.
“For example, (yung) Lung Center kahapon nakita ko sa Twitter, hanggang yesterday na lang ang supply nila. Imaginin niyo ho 'yon. Lung Center, eh COVID hospital 'yon. Si Dr. Antonio Ramos, Head of the Admin, sinabi niya nobenta'y otso na lang 'yon. Eh that is a government hospital.
“Ang question ko, wala ba tayong demopgraphics of the number of doctors na na-confine doon sa mga hospital? Ilan ang naka-quarantine? Ilan ang active na staff pa na nakakapagtrabaho? Ilan ang PPE? Ilan ang surgical masks nila? Dapat po may imbentaryo tayo nun at naka-checklist tayo. So that the DOH, eh mapupuntahan po yon.”
What should be done?
There were two important suggestions from Dr. Tony on how the government can be more successful in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic: first, to build a 4C's or a COVID Central Command Center; and second, give sufficient protection to the frontliners.
Watch Dr. Tony thoroughly explain his suggestions in his video HERE:
And, for more updates on the Coronavirus pandemic, go to click here.
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