Sipalay responders hailed for crossing rivers to rescue patient

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – Some netizens commended the Sipalay Emergency Assistance and Rescue Services (SEARS) in Negros Occidental for risking their lives while crossing two rivers to rescue a male patient who was suffering from dehydration on Wednesday.

Executive Assistant Dionilo Bogtae, head of the Public Safety and SEARS, said they received a call for assistance from a barangay official of Cabadiangan village around 6 a.m. yesterday.

But due to the strong river current brought by the heavy rains, it took them a while to reach the house of the 31-year-old patient, who was residing at Sitio Lamurang in the said village.

Bogtae said the patient suffered from loose bowel movement (LBM) Tuesday night and was getting severely ill early the following day, causing him to fall unconscious.

He was hooked up to a dextrose when the rescuers reached his house to prevent severe dehydration from setting in.

Bogtae told Daily Guardian that five rescuers carried the patient while holding onto a rope, which guided them to the other side of the river.

He said that the first river was 35 meters wide, while the other river measured 15 meters wide.

“It was really difficult but we made it,” he said.

He said the patient arrived at the hospital safe and is now stable.