LA SALLE TWEAKS PILLOWS IN NOVEL COVID 19 FIGHT

La Salle Green Hills Batch 1996 has come up with a novel formula for defeating Covid 19 in patients on ventilators akin to crafting a play in the dying seconds of a crucial basketball game with its team down by a point.

It is much like the way the Animo spirit cheers on its players, with the clock ticking away its pulsating seconds, the stadium booming with Bumakaya, and the team executes a flawless play, the ball is released its arc spot on for a ringless entry.

And the stadium erupts in a sea of green shirts tossed up in the air, the cheering team exchanging high fives. It was a game plan ingeniously conceived out of the blue and it went well.

This game plan is what is now at play in the private sector’s response to score the crucial point against the Covid 19 when the patient is intubated and relies on ventilator to wear out the virus splayed out in the body. La Salle Greenhills Batch 1996 endearingly call it “Project Pillow Fight,” and what an apt description it is as the innovative project the Batch 1996 crafted deals with a fight – a crucial one, in fact – as it takes care of a Covid 19 patient’s chances at a recovery.

Lasallian’s Mike Olalia echoes the fact that in crucial games, the players take inspiration from the rhythmic fighting cheers that come from the stadium egging the players not to lose heart, to keep on fighting and deliver the crucial game points.

Thus, the pillow solution was born and to see the contours of the said innovative item is to marvel at its design and how the La Salle Green Hills Batch 1996 thought long and hard in coming up with a concept that would ring out loud in the confines of ICU wards and make the patient win this all-important one big fight.

To see the pillow and the contours that allow for inserted tubes in a patient the space needed to allow the uninterrupted flow of medicine is to have that eureka moment for a solution to a crucial game plan that has stumped the medical community taking care of Covd 19 patients who have been intubated.

The biggest problem that confronted the frontliners taking care of the intubated patients was how best to make life easy for a patient with various protuberances from his/her body so that breathing is easy.

According to Dr Vince Platon, an anaesthesiologist at The Medical City and Dr Jose R Reyes Memorial Center from La Salle Green Hills Batch 1996, patients with coronavirus often die of ARDS, or acute respiratory distress syndrome.

This same syndrome also kills patients who have influenza, pneumonia and other diseases and the problem seems to be the difficulty a patient experiences when he/she has to sleep on his/her belly to oxygenate the lungs.

Usually, ventilated patients (those connected to a breathing machine/ventilator) typically stay on their stomachs for about 12-18 hours a day, going on their backs for the rest of the time so doctors have better access to their front side and can more easily give them the treatments they need.

Thus, the need for a special kind of pillow emerged. And which La Salle Green Hills Batch 1996 introduced giving a fighting chance to intubate patients to survive the corona virus’ known virulence.

The other Lasallians that spearheaded the Pillow Fight efforts were Mr Andres Reyes III, La Salle Green Hills Batch 1996 Representative, members of the La Salle Green Hills Batch 1996 Core Group and Mr Joey David, La Salle Green Hills Batch 1987 and previous La Salle Green Hills Alumni Association (LSGHAA) President.

Doctors say that being on the belly seems to help because it allows oxygen to more easily get to the lungs compared to when they are on the back with the weight of the body squishing some sections of the lungs.

“By putting them on their stomachs, we’re opening up parts of the lung that weren’t open before.” Dr Platon said. The incessant need for prone-positioning pillows for Covid 19 patients treated in hospitals nationwide birthed the “Project Pillow Fight”, a fund drive led by Dr Platon and the rest of his La Salle Green Hills Alumni Batch 1996 in partnership with foam and mattress manufacturing giant Uratex.

Thru donations from various benefactors, the project has already resulted in the delivery of 3,000 pillows and more are under way for more hospitals in the metropolis and even those in far-flung provinces. The specially designed foam pillows have proven to benefit critical patients for safely placing Covid 19 patients in prone position.

While donations such as personal protective equipment (PPE) have been coming in steadily for medical frontliners, Dr Platon envisioned a project that would directly aid patients struck by the virus.

This project has centered on what we can do for our Covid 19 patients, especially those who are critically ill. Proning helps the patients breath better, and the pillows will make sure that the head is safely in position when this technique is used, Dr Platon said.

The Project Pillow Fight, in this regard, thanks the following donors:

· APRIL 2 John Sevilla Benjo Aquino Alvin Lago MS Dino Tayag Francis Galang Anonymous GCASH donation Dr Karl Edejer c/o Paolo Olives (from a DLSU classmate) Jay Dacuycuy Carlo Calimon

· APRIL 3 Mr Lorenzo del Carmen (LSGH 2012) Dave Valeriano Mr Adrian Reyes and Dr Au Sosa Dr Mark Malanay Dr RJ Manzo AR Austin Arcega Ram and Yuri Ramos Archie Abad Mark Gonzaga Joe Aguirre Edward Tan P&G MDL

· APRIL 4 Dir Gloria Bundoc Almari Lugay (LSGH 98) VP

· APRIL 5 Deekee Gaerlan & Family Dana Marie Sunga Francis Bandera

· APRIL 6 John Ramirez Joyce Lauren Lavapie

· APRIL 7-12 Jerome Lepiten Wesley Nacpil Dr Hugh Bert Umali GP Carlo Lee Lee Alcantara Ryan Dionisio Carlo Figueroa Jo-anne Tan Lorenzo

· APRIL 13-20 Kings of the Court PH CA Ed & Mymy Anonuevo Ambros Visaya David Cantarero Linda Suarez Richard Uranga Victor Garcia Mike & Calen Marbella Dedrick Smith Tommy Smith Edison & Mehann Lagunda Anthony Rico Fernando Mendoza Ronald Garcia Jojo & Rose Marbella Sharon Osornio Deng & Shey Marbella Armando & Frances Castro Rhea Arias Rudy Covarrubias Maria Puyana Hoan & Gabriela Nguyenphuoc James Dumuk Ambrosio M. Lina Family (Glenn Barranda/Donny Elvina)

· MAY Josephine Mendoza Direct to Uratex donation by SylPaulJoyce Furniture Corp c/o Atty Ralph Calinisan

Pillows donated to the following Hospitals via Project Pillow Fight:

· REGION 1 Pangasinan, La Union and Ilocos

· REGION 2 Cagayan valley medical center, Region 2 Trauma & Medical Center Southern Isabela Medical Center

· REGION 3 Zambales: President Ramon Magsaysay Memoral Hospital San Marcelino District Hospital Candelaria District hospital ZMMG Coop Hospital Mother and Child hospital Olongapo Unihealth Baypointe Hospital and Medical Center James L. Gordon Memorial Medical Center Ridon’s St Jude Medical Center Our Lady of Lourdes Internarnational Medical Center Pampanga Pampanga Medical Specialist hospital Greencity Medical Center Makabali Hospital Pampanga Apalit Doctor's Hospital Jose B Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital Bataan Nueva Ecija Tarlac

· REGION 4-A Cavite DLSU Cavite General Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Medical Center De La Salle University Medical Center Emilio Aguinaldo Medical Center City of General Trias Medical Center Divine Grace Medical Center GenTri Medical Center Medical Center Imus Binakayan Hospital and Medical Center San Pedro Calungsod Medical Center Silang Specialist Medical Center Tagaytay Medical Center Our Lady of the Pillar Medical Center Pagamutang Bayan ng Dasmarinas Cavite Medical Center Laguna Qualimed Nuvali TMC South Luzon UPH Binan San Pablo Doctors Hospital Community General Hospital San Pablo Colleges Medical Cente San Pablo City District Hospital San Pablo General Hospital Calamba Medical Center Calamba Doctors Hospital Los Baños Doctors Hospital Healthserve Hospital and Medical Center Laguna Medical Center (formerly Laguna Provincial Hospital) Laguna Holy family hospital Laguna Doctors hospital Laguna Medical Center (Sta. Cruz) Global Hospital Canlubang Global Hospital Cabuyao Batangas NL Villa Memorial Hospital Mary Mediatrix Medical Center Batangas Regional Hospital Batangas Health Specialist Medical Center Quezon Province St. Anne General Hospital Inc. United Candelaria Doctors Inc. RAKKK Prophet Medical Center Calauag St. Peter General Hospital Tayabas Community Hospital Inc. San Diego de Alcala General Hospital

· Region 4-B Puerto Princesa MMG Cooperative Hospital Adventist Hospital Ospital ng Palawan

· REGION 5 Bicol Medical Center USI Mother Seton Hospital NICC Doctors Hospital Naga

· REGION 6 Bacolod Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital The Doctors Hospital Metro Bacolod Hospital and Medical Center South Bacolod Hospital and Medical Center Adventist Medical Center - Bacolod Cadiz District Hospital Teresita Jalandoni - Silay BQMH- Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital Iloilo Western Visayas Medical Center West Viayas Sate University Medical Center St Pauls Hospital Iloilo Doctors Hospital Iloilo Mission Hospital The Medical City Iloilo Qualimed Hospital Medicus Medical Center Metro Iloilo Hospital Seamen’s Hospital Capiz Capiz Emmanuel Hospital Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital The Health Centrum Hospital Saint Anthony College Hospital Capiz Doctors Hospital

· REGION 7 Bohol Allied Care Experts Medical Center, Bohol Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital Ramiro Community Hospital Holy Name University Foundation Medical Center Tagbilaran Community Hospital Coop MMG Hospital Cebu Chong Hua Hospital Main CHH Mandaue Perpetual Succor Hospital Cebu Doctors University Vicente Sotto Memorial

· Region 9 Dipolog Corazon C. Aquino Hospital Zamboanga del norte medical center Pagadian Zamboanga del sur medical center Margosatubig hospital Zamboanga Zamboanga City Medical Center

· Region 10 Northern Mindanao Medical Center Amay Pakpak in Marawi MHARS Medical Center Ozamiz City Iligan Iligan City quarantine and treatment facility Adventist Medical Center iligan Mercy community hospital Dr Uy hospital Iligan Medical Center hospital Gregorio t Lluch Memorial hospital Lanao del Norte Kapatagan district hospital Lanao provincial hospital

· Region 12 South Cotabato Dr arturo p pingoy medical center Allah Valley Medical Specialist Socomedics Medical Center Upper Valley Community Hosp General Santos Royeca Gensan doctors St elizabeth Mindanao medical center Socsargen county hospital Gensan medical center Davao Southern Philippines Medical Center Davao Regional Hospital

· NCR Osmak RMC Pasig General Hospital Mission Hospital Pasig City Ace Taguig Marikina Doctors Hospital and Medical Center Pasig Doctors NCMH Providence NKTI East Ave Manila Med Dr Jose Fabella memorial hospital UERM UST Fatima University Medical Center Valenzuela ACE Valenzuela Valenzuela Citicare Medical Center Valenzuela General Hospital De Los Santos Medical Center United Doctors Medical Center Medical Center Muntinlupa Diliman Doctors Hospital Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Metropolitan Medical Center Las Piñas General Hospital Mary Chiles Hospital San Lazaro Hospital Metro North Hospital Pacific Global Mandaluyong City Medical Center Veterans Memorial Medical Center UDMC PGH The Medical City

For donations, please deposit to: Security Bank Animo GH 96 Alumni Association Inc. #0000023393902. Send proof of payment to animolsgh96@gmail.com