THEY were already preparing to go to sleep on Sunday when Grace Jurok’s cousin showed her a Facebook live video showing the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital on fire. Her thoughts raced to her 10-day old grandchild staying in the neonatal intensive care unit ( NICU) of the hospital, and she rushed to Manila from Caloocan City past 2 a.m.
“May mga bombero na po na nasa labas pagdating namin. Tinanong po kami kung saan po kami pupunta. Sinabi po namin may baby po kami sa loob, pinapasok naman po kami [There were firefighters outside when we arrived there. They asked us where we were going. We told them we have a baby inside then they let us in],” Jurok, 33, told BusinessMirror in an interview.
“It was chaotic,” is how Jurok described the situation inside the PGH.
Jurok recalled seeing many patients quickly dragged from bed, carried or assisted by by doctors, nurses and hospital personnel to safety.
“We immediately looked for my grandson. Problem is, we had not seen him personally yet because he was immediately brought to the NICU [after his birth] due to spina bifida,” Jurok said in Filipino. Jurok’s grandson, Luke, was also operated almost a week ago.
When they saw babies outside the hospital, they looked for Luke using the pictures on her phone, Jurok said.
Then they were told that some babies were brought to the hospital’s Immaculate Conception Chapel.
“We saw baby Luke there. We were relieved,” Jurok, who still sounded emotional, said.
All 35 babies were safe – a near-miraculous feat that people attributed to the grace of God, and the presence of mind, excellent training and self-sacrifice and compassion of the PGH workers.
When Jurok saw her grandchild at the chapel, she broke into tears, “because that was the first time we were able to see him because after he was born, he was brought immediately to the NICU. All we had were pictures of him.”
“I was so thankful. My son, Luke’s father, was so happy. We also thanked the nurse who saved Luke,” she added, but remained anxious nonetheless that the condition of her grandchild is still very fragile due to the operation.
Luke was later brought to Sta. Ana Hospital – which took in 10 of the 35 infants at PGH-NICU, around 4 a.m.
“We are planning to go there [Sta. Ana Hospital] tomorrow (May 17),” she said, as she expressed hope that Luke would be okay despite what happened.
“When I saw that video that PGH was hit by fire, I really prayed hard that nothing bad will happen to my grandson. I am familiar with that building because the babies are located at the 4th floor,” she recalled.
She said she is grateful to God and the brave PGH personnel who were able to move to safety all of the patients of the PGH.
“Kung di po sa kanila baka napano na po ang apo ko at ibang baby at pasyente doon [ If it weren’t for their efforts to save my grandchild, other babies, and other patients, I don’t know what would have happened],” Jurok said.
PGH ER closed
In a radio interview, meanwhile, PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario said the emergency room (ER) will remain closed and that all surgical operations will also be suspended. Most of the ER space was transformed into a ward to temporarily accommodate some f the displaced patients.
Del Rosario , however said, they can’t suspend operations for a long period.
“We’re just making an inventory,” he said, as he expressed hope that only a few vital medical instruments were destroyed.
“And we can resume normal operations within 24 to 48 hours,” he added.
The Manila-Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said that the cause of the fire is still “under investigation” after a fire broke out at the UP-PGH before dawn on Sunday.
Investigation of Senior Fire Officer 3 Edilberto R. Cruz showed the fire started around 12 midnight. It was declared fire under control at 2:46 a.m., and was put out completely at 5:41 a.m.
Around 500 of the patients were evacuated when the fire started. No one was hurt.