AFTER recovering from coronavirus disease (Covid-19), 26 on-the-job trainees (OJTs) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have donated blood plasma to help save critically-ill coronavirus patients.
The blood donation event, which was a joint initiative of the PNP, Pamisaupan Kapampangan, Philippine Red Cross, Philippine Society of Gastroenterology (PSG), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), was held on August 4, 2020 at the Philippine Red Cross, Port Area Manila.
Before the onset of the pandemic, over 200 PNP OJTs from the Regional Special Training Unit III (RSTU 3), led by Police Colonel Frederick Obar, were trained and isolated for seven months in the Magalang Training Center of the PNP.
By the time they graduated, the lockdown was announced and they were pulled out of the Magalang Training Center and brought to the Regional Special Training Center barracks inside Clark, where they manned control points around Angeles City, as part of their OJT.
Their OJT period began during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and lasted for three months. After which, general community quarantine (GCQ) was declared.
When a vendor at the Pampang Public Market passed away due to Covid-19, the police OJTs underwent swab testing since the public market was among their control points.
Of the 200 swabbed OJTs, 26 turned out to be positive. They were immediately taken to the Asean Convention Center (ACC), where they were quarantined for 14 days, under the care and supervision of Dr. Maria Clemencita Dobles, manager of the CDC Health and Sanitation Department; and Dr. Augusto Galang, head physician at the and New Clark City Quarantine Facility and President of the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology.
All 26 were able to completely recover from the disease.
With the objective of erasing the stigma still attached to the once-afflicted PNP OJTs, and to somehow create a positive out of the negative, Police Colonel Obar and Dr. Rowena Mangubat, member of the RSTU 3 Advisory Council and co-founder of Pamisaupan Kapampangan, encouraged the Covid-19 survivors to donate their plasma to the critically-ill patients.
The OJTs made the donation through the RSTU 3's "Be a Superhero Donate Plasma" program.
A portion of the plasma donated will be given to the Philippine Red Cross, the Philippine General Hospital, and the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology under their program PSG Cares (Covid-19 Advisory Recommendations for Enhanced Safety). This will be allocated equally among healthcare workers, frontliners, and the general public.
"With this, we hope to inspire other Covid survivors to come forward, to not be ashamed of having contracted the virus because they are heroes who survived it, and to help us save critically ill patients by donating their blood plasma," Dr. Mangubat said, adding that some of the donated plasma will also be used for research at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital.