Fire fighters from Kalinga are facing the COVID-19 battle, this time as frontliners for swabbing facilities in the capital region in communities under lock down due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in the area.
Fire Safety Officer San Ubaldo Esteban, in an interview, said that the team composed of the Emergency Medical Service were trained to take swab samples.
“Compared ditoy probinsya ad-adu ti client da ijay, mostly ket dagiti Grab drivers, ken dagiti uniformed personnel tayo kasla police, army,” he informed.
He relates that five of his colleagues are now assigned at the Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City and have reported that they are collecting swabs up to 210 daily well-provided personal protective equipment.
A strike team he said were also sent to Regions 2 and 5 aside from those assigned at the National Capital Region.
According to Ubaldo, the Cordillera BFP team alone assigned in Region 1 are also collecting as high as 500 specimens daily.
“Agtrabaho da iti 14 days per shift ket malpas dayta ag-quarantine da ti 14 days ijay before da agawid ditoy, ket nu kitkitaen tayo kasa required da tu manen nga ag-quarantine nu sumangpet da ditoy ken dayta met iti time da ag-rest,” he said.
“Dakami a nag-bati ditoy ket tuloy latta dagiti duty mi especially as Emergency Medical Services and response team,” he said.
As recalled, the Department of Interior and Local Government had been utilizing the fire fighters to combat the spread of COVID -19, that aside from helping the health workers, they were also tasked to do decontamination, transport of patients, and other complementary services assisting local government units nationwide.
The BFP also leads the swabbing facility at the Philippine Arena. By GGD