(Photo courtesy of DOH Eastern Visayas)
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines 鈥� The town of Maslog, Eastern Samar got its first river ambulance to speed up the transport of patients from the remote areas to the nearest hospital.
The Department of Health (DOH) regional office here announced on Friday that Maslog town officially received the river ambulance during the turnover on Jan. 8.
鈥淭his innovative and essential equipment will be an important facility for quick hospital referral and immediate medical services to the residents of Maslog,鈥� the DOH regional office said in a statement.
The ambulance is equipped with a stretcher, an automatic external defibrillator, a nebulizer, portable suction machines, an oxygen cylinder and other medical equipment and accessories.
Currently, Maslog is accessible through a four-hour riverboat ride to a highway in Dolores town.
From Dolores town, the land travel is two hours to the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital in Borongan City, the provincial capital.
The DOH also turned over senior citizen kits, wheelchairs, canes, crutches and other assistive devices.
Witnessing the event were Vice Mayor Septemio Santiago, municipal health officer Mennie Cabacang, municipal council members and personnel of the rural health unit.
Maslog, a 5th-class town, is the least populated municipality in the Visayas with 5,463 as of 2020.
The nearest highway is in Jipapad, a town with a population of 8,439.
Several road projects are now ongoing to connect the town鈥檚 villages to existing national roads in Jipapad and Dolores.