The personnel of government-run hospitals in Caloocan City will be on full alert to attend to firecracker victims as Filipinos get ready to celebrate the coming of the New Year.
In a statement, the city government said that President Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Medical Center on A. Mabini Avenue and Dr. Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Tala would be fully staffed round-the-clock and equipped with tools and medicine for emergency cases.
The two facilities will treat patients free of charge, especially those with firecracker-related injuries, it added.
Both hospitals, along with Manila Central University Hospital, Nodado General Hospital and Caloocan North Doctors Hospital, have signed a memorandum of agreement with the Caloocan chapter of the Philippine Red Cross.
Under the MOA, the government hospitals and Red Cross will work together to provide emergency services, facilities and other resources to residents in need of treatment.
In the long run, they will coordinate with each other on the storage of blood supplies in addition to encouraging residents to donate blood to needy and poor patients.