In the Philippines EMTs Are Instructed to Not Revive You

The following is a true story. I wrote it as it happened so it is a very hot take. It has been edited for spelling and to keep the identities anonymous.

Around 3pm I was shouted for and I ran downstairs. I was asked if I knew how to revive someone and I had no idea what was meant but I ran out the door. The man was sitting up so it looked like he needed water but one guy was holding him up in the chair. I asked if he had a pulse.  I could not feel one. I had them put him on the ground and then I started compressing his chest. I did not breathe into his mouth. I asked for a flashlight to look at his pupils. They did not seem to dilate. I asked for a stethoscope but they did not have one. I kept compressing his chest and it seemed like he might be breathing. There was a huge vein on his neck that seemed engorged and standing out. Probably his jugular. I then tried to keep his mouth open and esophagus unobstructed by having them hold his head up. Then the ambulance showed up.

They came in there with no sense of urgency, no equipment, lazily walked over and put the digital meter on his finger and said well he's dead that's it. In no way shape or form did they attempt to revive him or to acscertain his condition except for obtaining his pulse via his finger.  They did not check his breath or eyes (maybe they did).  Then they walked away calmly and returned but this time with a stethoscope and a blood pressure gauge which they did not use. Then they walked back to the ambulance and left. They said the hospital will not take a dead man. I pleaded with them to take him to the hospital to attempt to revive him. I asked if they had a breath machine pump.  I asked if they had heart paddles.  The nurse (?) told me they have no equipment. 

The EMERGENCY AMBULANCE HAS NO EQUIPMENT!!!  Well I looked and that's not really true they had alcohol and a few other things but nothing that would save a man's life. So we waited for the funeral home to come snatch him.

It appears he was standing on a gas container to weld the ceiling. It also appears that the cord he was using to power the welding machine snapped and was broken. He could have been electrocuted. Likewise he could have passed out from not eating as I was told he did not eat at all that day. The day was not very hot due to it being overcast but still not eating can catch up with you in a bad way. He was fallen face first into the corner of the room onto an old fridge and some other stuff.

At first it appeared he might have fallen from the ladder since the ladder was on the ground but I do not think that is the case.  I do not know how long he was there. His helper found him lying on the ground. He came running after he heard him scream. He was on the other side of the wall in the street.

His welding instrument was lying next to the gas container which lends credibility to the idea that he was standing on it and fell. There are no brusies or blood on his body. Nothing from the ears or the eyes. It is as if he died all of a sudden. That he fell face first and did not try to get up would seem to mean he was electrocuted. One of his slippers was missing but I do not know how it came off. 

That the ambulance personnel did not try to revive him in any way is most upsetting.  Most upsetting indeed.

In the end, to be honest, he was not a safe worker and that negligence is likely what killed him. But, my god, the EMT's in the Philippines sure aren't worth a shit. Now he is lying in the area he was working with a pillow to support his head and a fan blowing on him and they are keeping vigil until the funeral home comes to retrieve him.

They rubbed alcohol all over his body.

The family arrived and one woman wailed and screamed shouting in Jesus name while smacking him and trying to revive him. They also anointed him with oil in an attempt to wake him up.  They did way more than the EMTs.

The police finally arrived and with them the EMTs returned. The family wanted the man, who had been dead for 90 minutes now, to be taken to the hospital. At first they brought out the stretcher but then the EMTs spoke with the police and they did not take him. I talked to the police and they said that the first time around they had called the doctor at the provincial hospital and she said do not bring him because he had no vitals and because of COVID.

It was a harrowing and grief stricken scene. I think the family was very angry that they had not transported him to the hospital. The man was 36.

The EMTs called the doctor and the doctor yelled at the PNP when the phone was handed to him. The EMTs were told by the doc at 3pm when they first called to not revive if there were no vitals.

Around 5pm more relatives came over and tried to revive the man by praying in Jesus name and shaking his limbs. I stepped outside the gate to ask the PNP officer if he was CPR trained. He said no. I asked if they teach you that at the academy. He scrunched up his face, shook his head, and took a puff from his vape machine.  He did say the EMTs were CPR trained and that he did know what CPR is. But the PNP are not trained in that technique.

The family decided around 5:30pm to take him to the hospital because only the doctor can pronounce him dead. So they put him in a tricycle but his feet were sticking out and with rigor mortis setting in they could not make his knees stay bent. So I told them to put him in the back of the car and then they sped off to the hospital. 

Later I was told the doctor at this hospital said he could have been revived if he had been brought in within an hour of his accident. It sounds nice but I don't know. All I know is he is dead and the EMTs did nothing at the behest of the doctor they called.

The moral of this story is: STAY SAFE!  Because in the Philippines the EMTs WILL NOT REVIVE YOU!

The Witch Doctor

I suppose it is inevitable when one lives in the backwaters of a third world country sooner or later one will end up driving down a long, rutted, dirt road to visit the shack of a witch doctor. 

My trip to the witch doctor started with a massage in the comfort of my own home. Two ladies come to the house at intervals offering massages. One lady has massaged my legs too many times to count but they still cramp. Late at night I will wake in pain as my calf locks up. Nothing she has done has abated that situation. Today the second lady came by. She is a very stout woman with thick hands and she presses very hard. She practically gave my legs a thrashing kneading them with her stubby fingers and when she was done and I sat up they both promptly locked themselves in a cramp.

She called someone, a friend, and told me that this person would be able to fix me once and for all.  He would be able to look at me and instantly tell what was wrong. The place was far away and I didn't really want to go but we all went anyway. I didn't really have much of a choice.

I thought we would be going to an office or a neighbourhood but as we kept driving past the city and way into the country I realised this was not to be the case. Finally we turned onto a dirt road with many shanties and children running around and older folks sitting down staring at our vehicle as we crept on past. We kept going. We passed them all. The road became narrower and the sugarcane became taller. Above the sky was getting darker and darker as the rain clouds moved in. I imagine when the road is wet it is nearly impassible. Thankfully the rain stayed away during our visit.

As we kept creeping down the road I said, "Where are we going? Are we going to visit a witch doctor?" Everybody laughed. Inside I started to get the creeps. Just where the heck were we going and who were we going to see?

Finally we turned the last bend and pulled up to a group of shanties with chickens and dogs mulling about and more children playing and adults sitting and staring. We got out of the car and walked over to the man's "office" to wait for him.

After about 10 minutes the door opened and a pregnant lady walked out. It was my turn. What a sight this man was in his wife beater and with his thick finger nails like claws painted red. The thumbs were even pointed and sharp.

That is a close up of his hands.

He sat me down on a stool and placed his his thumbs on my wrists and listened. He said I have cramps. I said of course he knows that because the lady told him. She denied telling him. He asked if I take a bath at night. I said I take one in the morning and at night.

He then had me lay face down on a large bed. He said it would hurt so I grabbed onto the frame as tight as I could but whatever he did there was no pain. He fiddled with a nerve but that was not painful just a little tingly. His technique was not much different from the masseuses who have worked on me. A little bit of ointment, some pinching and rubbing, and a little bit of spanking. 

If you haven't guessed by now this guy is not a witch doctor. He is a reflexologist. There was even a foot and spine chart on the wall showing which nerves do what. After all that slapping he felt my wrist again. Then he rubbed me some more. Then he felt my wrist again. He repeated this process until he was satisfied and he said he was done. My pulse is back to normal he said. Upon inquiry of what just happened I was told that by showering at night I had trapped cold air in my veins thus causing a vein cramp and that he had sorted everything out by touching and pulling in the right places.

He asked how I felt. I didn't feel much different than I had before I came in the door. My muscles don't cramp all the time. But now they won't cramp any more. So I'm told. He also said I would be farting a lot. That would be the cold air trapped in my veins making its escape.

Here is in all his glory.

On the way out I recorded the drive. In my video editor I reversed the footage so it appears like we are driving to the witch doctor's shanty rather than away from it. It would have worked better had I been filming through the rear window but it did not occur to me to do so. The voices and the nosies of the car are also reversed which adds an element of occult creepiness.

Vaginal Steaming

Is your vagina feeling a little down? Dry? Itchy? Got a yeast infection? Menstrual cramps? Have cysts inside your uterus which need to be surgically removed? Try a vaginal steam!

What the heck is a vaginal steam you ask?

You sit in a chair like this:

All the while a bubbling herbal concoction releases it's healing vapours up through the hole and straight into the vagina and uterus leaving you feeling as relaxed and comfy as any traditional Mayan tribeswoman could possibly feel.

What? You don't have a vagina?  Don't worry.  Healing Galing also offers a sitz bath.

A sitz who?

In layman's terms, it's a bath to wash your taint!

On the way out don't forget to buy some of the products they offer like soap and black rice tea and herbal pills.  Or maybe not.

http://www.manilatimes.net/fda-warns-vs-use-8-healing-galing-products/355598/

In its Advisory No. 2017-275, the agency named the food products that are promoted at http://healinggaling.ph/ but are not registered with the FDA: Healing Galing Rhizome Pills; Healing Galing Herbal Serpentina Tablets; Healing Galing Omega 3 Fish Oil; Healing Galing Organic Vitamins B1, B6; Healing Galing Organic Vitamin B12; Healing Galing Healing Food; Healing Galing Black Rice Coffee; and Healing Galing Pure Honey.

PURE HONEY??  Yeah sure right. Anyone who reads this blog knows what a doubtful claim that is. Fake honey is more like it.

Who runs this place?  What is this all about?

Know more about Dr. Edinell 

Inspired by the wonders of natural healing and alternative medicine and moved by her strong belief in the propagation of such, Dr. Edinell Calvario pursued higher studies at The Open International University for Complementary Medicines based in Colombo, Sri Lanka earning her a Master’s Degree in Alternative Medicine (The Fellowship Register of Royal Complementary Practitioners) and Doctor of Philosophy in Alternative Medicine. She finished her collegiate course in 1983 at The Lyceum of the Philippines with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Journalism.

http://healinggaling.ph/about-us/

This "Doctor" has a Master's in Alternative Medicine, a PhD in Alternative Medicine, and a BS in Journalism.  But she lists the Bachelor degree last as if she got her Master's and then her PhD before she got her Bachelor's. It is possible she finished her collegiate courses by earning a BS in journalism but what Bachelor degree did she earn before she earned her Master's and PhD in Alternative Medicine? A PhD in Alternative Medicine!  Not an MD? That means she's a doctor like my English professor and not like my surgeon! Dr. Edinell Calvario is not a medical doctor though she is clearly portraying herself as one since her whole line of work is about medicine and not the philosophy of medicine. But you wouldn't know that unless you looked at the fine print of her credentials.  

Her medical alma mater is The Open International University for Complementary Medicines which from the looks of it is likely a diploma mill.

http://asianmirror.lk/news/item/2703-indian-media-says-sri-lanka-sells-phd-for-rs-300-000

Aside from selling vaginal steams and taint baths, Dr Edinell also hosts a TV show.  Here is a review from 2015.

TV5’S new morning show, “Healing Galing sa TV,” is notable for its innovative fusion of a medical doctor and an alternative healer as the show’s cohost. 

The doctor happens to be Hayden Kho, in his first regular public outing after his controversial personal and career crises some years back. The fact that TV5 has opted to enable him to make his comeback in a weekday TV show could become an “issue” with some viewers. 

To be sure, other doctors and medical specialists are invited to shed light on specific illnesses, but Hayden is still the program’s top medical point man, so his competent performance in the show’s early telecasts could turn out to be a major factor in its longevity. 

For her part, alternative healer Edinell Calvario has been seen on-cam in other TV shows promoting alternative healing, but this new program is her biggest showcase and platform by far.

http://entertainment.inquirer.net/166106/innovative-fusion

THEY WON'T EVEN REFER TO HER AS A DOCTOR!!! The "real doctor" is also just as dubious.

Hayden Kho is, or was, a cosmetic doctor who got caught using a hidden camera to film himself having sex with an actress.  As a result he lost his licence to practice because of this unethical misconduct and subsequently attempted suicide a few times. But TV5 thinks it's just great for a disgraced plastic surgeon and an alternative healer to team up and dispense medical advice to the whole nation. It's like an episode of Oprah with Dr. Oz but much more stupid.

Alternative medicine is big business in the Philippines. Outrageous and unfounded claims abound and every gullible person with a few pesos who wants to try something new is willing to make any hardworking entrepreneur very wealthy. Why do Filipinos embrace Western technology to a fault but reject Western medicine? Everyone has a cell phone. Everyone. And they have their nose buried in Facebook all day long. But if they get sick? Better run to the witchdoctor and get some herbs because Western medicine is just going to kill you.

Ridiculous!