Two hospitals in Palawan have received COVID-19 specimen collection booths (SCBs) from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to improve their testing capacities and protect the welfare of their healthcare workers.
In a press statement sent to Palawan News on June 5, the DOST MIMAROPA said Ospital ng Palawan (ONP), the region’s first and only licensed testing center, received its second unit of coronavirus disease collection booth on May 9.
The last unit, on the other hand, was delivered to Coron District Hospital (CDH) on May 21 to cater to patients residing in the northern part of Palawan.
The DOST regional office said the Oriental Mindoro Provincial Hospital (OMPH) also received a unit of the SCB, the pattern of which was telephone booth-style used in swabbing for COVID-19 testing.
The SCB was designed and fabricated by the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) Startup Grant Awardee and Palawan International Business Incubator (PITBI) incubatee Future Aviation and Maritime Enterprise, Inc. (FAME). The SCBs were jointly funded by DOST-PCIEERD and DOST – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST- PCHRD).
“To minimize the risks of health workers contracting the virus from suspect COVID-19 patients, the SCB, also known as the ‘no contact booth’ is equipped with clear water-proof acrylic window, semi-disposable untextured nitrile gloves, pressure sensor to prevent outside contamination from getting inside the booth, a FAME-designed temperature scanner that allows the temperature to be obtained and recorded in the cloud for easy monitoring of hotspots in areas where the SCB is installed, and caster wheels for easier mobility,” the statement said.
The first unit was installed in OMPH on May 8, 2020. The turn-over of the SCB to the hospital was joined by Oriental Mindoro governor Humerlito A. Dolor, vice governor Antonio S. Perez, Oriental Mindoro board members, provincial health officer, and the head of the hospital.
Aside from the SCB, 150 pieces of face masks were also donated by DOST-MIMAROPA through its Provincial S&T Center in Oriental Mindoro.
In case other institutions or private entities would like to fabricate their own SCBs, the design was also made available publicly for free. Designs are disseminated through the DOST-MIMAROPA Regional Office and its Provincial S&T Centers in Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan or online via this link http://pcieerd.dost.gov.ph/library/fame-design
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