The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila on Monday honored the heroism of its alumna, Kathrina Bianca Macababbad, as she acted swiftly to protect babies under her care from a fire that engulfed a portion of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
University officials led by President Emmanuel Leyco and Board of Regents chairman Francisco Roman lauded Macababbad during the May 24 flag-raising ceremony and shared her story with members of the PLM community. She and her fellow nurse on duty Jomar Mallari rushed to evacuate 35 babies in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after learning about a fire in a storage unit on the third floor of the hospital on Saturday night, May 15, 2021.
Macababbad, an alumna of the PLM College of Nursing, had to run back and forth from the fourth floor NICU unit carrying the babies as well as emergency medicines and breathing equipment to sustain them through the evacuation, especially for children relying on ventilators.
Macababbad passed the Nursing Licensure Examination in December 2013 and has been with PGH since 2017.
The nurse said she did what she could to save the children and saw it as an opportunity to go the extra mile in serving the public.
“Lahat po ng pina-practice ko sa profession ay galing sa PLM at sa pagtuturo ng ating magagaling na mga propesor. I will not be this kind of nurse, I will not be this kind of person without PLM,” Nurse Kathrina said during the brief recognition ceremony.
“We thank Nurse Kathrina for her untiring care and service for her patients, which has saved the lives of babies staying at the NICU ward. Buong karangalan naming inaangkin ang iyong kabayanihan,” President Leyco said.
“She is the true embodiment of PLM’s principles of Karunungan, Kaunlaran and Kadakilaan. May her dedication and passion for her work inspire many other health frontliners as well as aspiring medical practitioners pursuing the profession,” he added.
PLM is supporting moves to recognize her selfless act, with Macababbad and Mallari nominated for the Bayaning Nars Award of the Philippine Nurses Association.