Triage at Session Road: Navigating Baguio’s Holiday Tachycardia
December 2025
Chief Complaint: Chronic Congestion and Seasonal Palpitations
If the botanical gardens were the "low-flow oxygen" of this trip, then Session Road on a Saturday night was the full-blown "Code Blue."💔
In the clinical world, we are trained to manage high-stress environments, but nothing in my years of nursing prepared me for the logistics of Baguio in December. The city’s "heart rate" was through the roof. Every artery—from Kennon Road to Marcos Highway—was occluded. The "vascular resistance" of trying to find a parking spot was enough to induce a secondary hypertensive crisis in even the most seasoned traveler.
The HPI (History of Present Illness)
The patient (the City of Pines) presented with an acute influx of tourists, leading to severe abdominal cramping—specifically in the restaurant district.
I arrived with a plan: a systematic, well-paced exploration of the city’s culinary landmarks. However, it became clear that "first-come, first-served" had been replaced by "survival of the most caffeinated."
Physical Exam Findings:
Respiratory Status: Compromised. Not by health issues, but by the sheer volume of charcoal-grilled corn🌽, BBQ smoke, and strawberry 🍓 taho steam filling the night market air.
Circulation: Non-existent. Session Road had reached a state of stasis where pedestrians were moving significantly faster than the 4x4s. It was a literal circulatory bypass.
Neurological Assessment: Confused. Mostly tourists staring at Google Maps, trying to comprehend how a 1.2km walk was estimated to take 45 minutes by car.
The "Night Market" Trauma Protocol
Attempting to navigate the Harrison Road Night Market is essentially like managing a multi-vehicle pileup with no backup. The "flow" is unpredictable, the sensory input is at 100%, and your "reflexes" are tested every time someone stops abruptly to look at a second-hand North Face jacket 🧥.
My Bedside Interventions:
Fluid Resuscitation: Frequent stops for warm Strawberry taho to maintain morale and core temperature🌡.
Pain Management: Noise-canceling earbuds to mitigate the rhythmic symphony of "BEEP-BEEP" that serves as the city's background noise.
Endurance Training: Standing in line for 90 minutes for Good Shepherd Ube Jam 🟣—a test of lower-extremity strength and psychological grit that should honestly count as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) units.
Case Management & Final Assessment
In the end, you don't "beat" Baguio traffic 🚦🚸; you simply survive it. You learn to appreciate the "small wins"—like finding a table at a cafe without a 20-person waitlist or successfully crossing the street without a collision.
As a Nurse Preceptor, I always tell my students: "Assess the patient, not just the monitor." The "monitor" (social media) told me Baguio was a nightmare of crowds. But my "assessment" told me that even in the middle of the holiday tachycardia, there is a pulse of joy. There’s something therapeutic about the chaos—the shared struggle of thousands of people just trying to find a cool breeze🥶❄️ and a decent bowl of bulalo🍲.
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