The Palawan Chamber of Commerce and Industry donated a customized intubation box, also known as aerosol box that will protect doctors and nurses from getting infected during the insertion of endotracheal tube on a possibly infected patient with COVID-19.
Chamber President Jeff Armedilla said that this initiative is an answer to the call of medical practitioners in handling COVID-19 patients.
“We just answered yung panawagan ng mga doctors na need nila ng protection lalo na sa pag-iintubate, kasi usually plastic lang daw binabalot nila during patient intubation tapos wala silang makunan dito sa Palawan,” Armedilla said.
Most of the hospitals in the province don’t have this kind aerosol box, which costs around P2,000, if they are made locally.
Around six of these boxes were turned over to the City Government by the Chamber last Monday, March 23 and another 8 of will be given to the Provincial Government in the coming days.
Armedilla said that the box is made up of acryclic or transparent polycarbonate and the concept was based on their research from different sites used by different hospitals and medical practitioners.
Through the assistance of some members, they were able to manufacture these aerosol boxes.
“Kausap ko na yung isang doctor after I delivered the intubation boxes at very thankful sila. Mas natuwa tayo dahil alam nating nakatulong tayo sa mga frontliners natin na talagang nasa risk din ang buhay,” Armedilla added.
This transparent box has two holes on one side where a healthcare worker can insert his or her hands while performing the intubation on the patient’s head, and to avoid inhaling respiratory secretions that could possibly be infected with the virus.
Intubation according to ScienceDirect is a lifesaving process by which a tube is inserted into the airways of the patient to aid in the ventilation. This is usually when the patient is in respiratory distress or had a cardiac arrest.