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The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) strengthened its blood donation campaign as dengue cases rise in the country.

 The Department of Health (DOH) reported over 60,000 dengue cases from January 1 to June 25, 2022, which is 90% higher compared to over 30,000 cases during the same period in 2021. Some dengue cases warrant blood transfusion.  

With the increased demand for blood transfusions, the PRC maintains its blood supply by continuing to accept walk-in blood donors in its 102 facilities nationwide. Aside from the blood donation in its facilities, the PRC establishes more strategic partnerships with public and private companies to conduct its Mobile Blood Donation (MBD), which aims to make blood donations more accessible to communities across the country.

 As of July 13, the PRC has dispensed 2,267 blood units to 774 dengue patients.

 “Sa dumadaming kaso ng dengue sa ating bansa, tinitiyak natin na laging sapat ang suplay ng dugo sa Red Cross para sa mga kababayan natin na nangangailangan nito,” PRC Chairman and CEO Richard Gordon said.

 Chairman Gordon encouraged healthy individuals to donate blood regularly through its 102 facilities nationwide to save the lives of dengue patients.

 For blood donation, blood requests, and other inquiries, email the PRC NBS at [email protected] or contact the PRC Blood Call Center which may be reached nationwide by dialing 143.

The Philippine Red Cross deployed an ambulance team, a search and rescue team, and a welfare team to assist the people affected by a collapsed wall in Barangay Kaybagal Central, Tagaytay City, Cavite on July 11. The incident, involving eight victims, happened on a residential construction site.

In coordination with the Bureau of Fire Protection Tagaytay City and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, the Philippine Red Cross sent volunteers and staff and an ambulance team to the incident area. The emergency medical services team treated a patient with multiple body abrasions and laceration, while the welfare team provided psychosocial support to another patient.

“Ang Philippine Red Cross ay laging handa at laging nandyan kapag may mga ganitong medical emergency. Meron tayong emergency medical services personnel o ambulance team at meron din tayong search and rescue team. Nandyan din ang ating welfare team na may kasanayan sa pagbigay ng psychosocial support na lubhang kailangan ng taong nakaranas ng krisis,” Philippine Red Cross Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon said.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) intensified its COVID-19 response as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,018 new active cases on Sunday, July 10.

The DOH’s COVID-19 tracker last Sunday showed that the additional cases brought active cases to 13,818, raising the country’s total cases to 3,718,467 with 3,644,009 recoveries and 60,640 deaths.

With this reported increase, the PRC continued to administer vaccinations to qualified individuals across the country. On Friday, July 8, Bakuna Centers vaccinated 139 individuals in Zamboanga City, 208 individuals in Ilocos Norte, and 73 individuals in Pasay City. Bakuna Teams also vaccinated 34 individuals in Lapasan Health Center, Carmen Health Center, and Canitoan Health Center in Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro, and 23 individuals in Free Port Area, Mariveles, Bataan. The PRC Bakuna Bus drove to Dona Victoria Zarate Elementary School to vaccinate 85 individuals.

As of July 11, the PRC has administered 1,208, 429 doses, with 374,637 fully vaccinated individuals.

The PRC also started to administer COVID-19 booster shots to all qualified adolescents 12-17 years old. It encourages all qualified adolescents to avail of the first booster shot. The PRC accepts walk-ins, provided that they are accompanied by their parent or legal guardian, present their ID, their vaccination card (1st and 2nd dose), their parent’s or legal guardian’s ID, and proof of filiation.

“Ngayong pwede nang magpabakuna ang ating mga kabataang edad 12-17, mas mapapaigting pa natin ang laban kontra sa dumaraming kaso ng COVID-19 sa ating bansa. Hinihikayat ko ang mga magulang o legal guardian na samahan ang ating mga kabataan upang makiisa sa layunin ng Red Cross na sila ay maproteksyunan at matiyak ang kanilang kaligtasan,” PRC Chairman and CEO Richard Gordon said.

In addition, the 14 PRC Molecular Laboratories with 60,000 tests capacity per day are open for COVID-19 swab and saliva RT PRC tests.

The Philippine Red Cross Malabon Chapter distributed 500 loaves of bread to 350 families in Barangay Hulong Duhat, Malabon City who were affected by two weeks of flooding caused by high tide and damaged floodgates. The bread loaves were donated by Gardenia.

According to the PRC chapter office, the flood subsided on July 1 after the floodgates were fixed, but PRC gave away food to assist the residents whose incomes were adversely affected by the flooding.

Malabon, located in the northern part of the National Capital Region, has a low-lying, flat terrain that makes it a catch basin. It is part of the CAMANAVA area, or Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela, four cities that are commonly affected by interconnected rivers, among them the Tullahan and Navotas Rivers.

Mandaluyong City — In a luncheon meeting today, Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon recognized the contribution of the Australian government to PRC, particularly its COVID-19 response operations, and honored Australia’s outgoing ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Steven J. Robinson.

In his speech, Gordon acknowledged Australia for its support in the timely establishment of the PRC molecular laboratory in Port Area, Manila, the largest of its kind in the Philippines. The laboratory was set up in June 2020, three months after the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and the Philippine government declared a community quarantine in the National Capital Region. 

Gordon noted that Australia was also one of the first to donate negative-pressure ambulance units to the PRC, which are designed for transporting patients with contagious diseases, such as COVID patients. Gordon also thanked the Australian embassy for donating a Hyundai HD65-based food truck, which is part of PRC’s Hot Meals on Wheels Program, one of PRC’s interventions in disaster-affected communities.

The objective of the friendship between Australia and the Philippines, according to Gordon, is “to make sure we succeed in our effort to alleviate human suffering.” “We got a friendship we will never forget,” he said.

In his response, Ambassador Robinson acknowledged the Australian Agency for International Development for making the accomplishments possible and described the camaraderie between the PRC and the Australian Embassy as “intense.”

Also present during the event were Her Excellency Monica van Daalen, ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands; Counselor Thanh Le of the Embassy of Australia; Mr. Julian Tollestrup, First Secretary at the New Zealand Embassy; Mr. Gopal Mukherjee of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; Nathan Ramalingompillai of the German Red Cross; Paul Anthony Drossou of the Netherlands Red Cross; Megan Kate Lilley of the Finnish Red Cross; and PRC officials.

Philippine Red Cross celebrates National Disaster Resilience Month

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) joins the annual observance of the National Disaster Resilience Month (NDRM) this July with the theme “Sambayanang Pilipino, Nagkakaisa tungo sa Katatagan at Maunlad na Kinabukasan.”

Executive Order no. 29, s. 2017 designates July of each year as the NDRM throughout the country. For its part, the PRC supports the government in its efforts to build resilience covering the four thematic areas of disasters: disaster prevention and mitigation, disaster preparedness, disaster response, and disaster rehabilitation and recovery.

“Ang Red Cross ay nakikiisa sa paggunita natin ng National Disaster Resilience Month ngayong buwan ng Hulyo. Hinihikayat ko ang ating mga kababayan na laging maging handa sa panahon ng kalamidad,” PRC Chairman and CEO Richard Gordon said.

In addition, the PRC has prepared its assets that deliver quick services in anticipation of rescue and relief operations amid disasters: 35 Food trucks, 178 Ambulance units, 5 Rescue trucks, 40 Rescue boats, 2 Amphibians, 8 Payloaders, 5 Six-by-six trucks, 8 Humvees, 15 Fire trucks, 28 Water tankers, 4 Fire tanker trucks, 2 Military jeeps, and 17 Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) hubs equipped with 30 water treatment units,  trained volunteers and staff, and hygiene promotion materials.

“Handa ang Red Cross na magbigay ng agarang tulong sa ating mga kabayayan sa panahon ng kalamidad. Bukod sa ating modernong operasyon, nariyan ang ating mga volunteers na handang magmalasakit sa kapwa ano mang oras,” Gordon added.

To know more about the activities of the PRC for the NDRM 2022, email the PRC Disaster Management Services at [email protected] or call 790-2300 local 614.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) emergency medical services (EMS) assisted 559 motorcycle riders who figured in accidents across the country this year, PRC data as of July 5, 2022 show. Eighteen percent of the incidents, or 98, happened in Metro Manila. 437 patients were transported to medical facilities and 110 were treated by PRC emergency medical technicians.

The safety of motorcycle riders is one of the advocacies of the PRC, under the leadership of its chairman and CEO, Richard J. Gordon. He reminds motorcycle riders to take extra care on the road, especially during the rainy season.

For the first semester of 2022, PRC’s EMS responded to 4,150 incidents involving 8,759 patients. 2,234 of these patients needed transport provided by PRC ambulances. 75% or 1,646 availed of the ambulance service for free.

The PRC has a total of 178 ambulance units in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. “Ang Red Cross ay laging nakatuon sa pag-modernize ng EMS para makapagsilbi sa ating mga kababayan sa kanilang medical emergency,” Chairman Gordon said.

All 14 Philippine Red Cross (PRC) molecular laboratories across the country received Certificates of Proficiency for 2022 from the Department of Health-Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (DOH-RITM). The proficiency tests, given annually by RITM to DOH-accredited molecular laboratories, are part of RITM’s quality assessment post-accreditation for the real-time detection of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes CoVID-19.

All 14 molecular laboratories of the PRC passed the proficiency tests, which consist of Nucleic Acid Extraction, PCR Master Mix Preparation, Real-Time RT-PCR, RT-PCR results interpretation, and RT-PCR results reporting. All 14 PRC laboratories needed only one take to meet the RITM requirements. 

The PRC’s molecular laboratories are located in (1) PRC National Blood Center, Mandaluyong City, (2) PRC Logistics and Multi-purpose Center, Mandaluyong City, (3) Port Area, Manila, (4) Ilagan City, Isabela, (5) Subic, Zambales, (6) Clark, Pampanga, (7) Batangas City, (8) Mandaue City, Cebu, (9) Passi City, Iloilo, (10) Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, (11) Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, (12) Surigao City, Surigao del Norte (13) Cotabato City-Maguindanao area, and (14) Zamboanga City.

The first laboratory started operation in April 2020. Since then, PRC has tested 5,605,651 swab and saliva samples for CoVID-19. “Ang Philippine Red Cross ang kauna-unahang nagkaroon ng automated RT-PCR tests sa Pilipinas. Araw-araw, sinisikap ng aming volunteers at staff na laging maging una, laging handa, at laging nandyan para sa ating mga kababayan sa panahon ng emergency at sakuna,” PRC Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon said.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) assures the public that its blood supplies are adequate for Dengue patients as the Department of Health (DOH) reports recent increases in Dengue cases starting at the end of March 2022.

The DOH also reported that, from April 10 to May 7, 2022, most of the Dengue cases were from Region IX (908 cases), Region VII (881 cases), and Region III (593 cases). In response, the PRC conducts dengue awareness and prevention activities to help the DOH in its efforts to curb the continuous increase in the number of Dengue cases in the country.

The PRC also reminds the public of the need to always practice the 4-S campaign to prevent the Dengue virus: Search and destroy breeding places, Secure self-protection, Seek early consultation, and Support fogging/spraying in hotspot areas.

In addition, the PRC encourages healthy individuals to donate blood regularly through its 100 facilities nationwide as this act saves the lives of Dengue patients. “Makatitiyak ang ating mga kababayan na laging sapat ang supply ng dugo ng Red Cross para sa mga nangangailangan, lalo ngayong panahon ng tag-ulan at nariyan na naman ang banta ng Dengue sa atin,” Chairman and CEO Richard Gordon said.

As of June 20, the PRC has served 700 blood units to 239 Dengue patients.

For immediate blood requests and other inquiries, contact the PRC Blood Call Center which may be reached nationwide by dialing 143.

Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman and CEO Sen. Richard J. Gordon urged the public to get tested promptly for early detection and prevent transmission of Covid-19 as the Department of Health (DOH) reported an increasing number of cases. The DOH recorded 3,051 new cases for the period June 13-19, 2022, 82% higher than that recorded the previous week, June 6-12, 2022.

Chairman Gordon also encouraged the public to get vaccinated or receive a booster shot for added protection. Gordon assured the Filipinos that PRC is prepared for the surge, with its 14 operational molecular laboratories across the country. The PRC also continues to support the government’s vaccination efforts through its 17 Bakuna Buses, 26 Bakuna Centers, and 24 Bakuna Teams to the LGUs.

“Sa lahat ng panahon, ginagawa namin sa Red Cross ang lahat para maging laging una at laging handang tumugon sa panahon ng kalamidad at sakuna,” Gordon said.

To book a RT-PCR test, go to https://redcross.org.ph/. The PRC vaccination centers, Bakuna Buses, and Bakuna Teams offer free vaccinations across the country; walk-in clients are welcome from 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday.

Philippine Red Cross

Born officially in 1947, but with roots that traces back to the revolutionary days, the Philippine Red Cross has truly become the premier humanitarian organization in the country, committed to provide quality life-saving services that protect the life and dignity especially of indigent Filipinos in vulnerable situations.

Address: 37 EDSA corner Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550
Emergency Hotline: 143
Trunkline +63 2 8790 2300
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