Doctor Nguyen Van Giap and his wife were transporting each other by motorbike on the way to visit Kon Tum when they met a group of Ho Chi Minh City Market Management officials who had a traffic accident and immediately stopped and rushed to the emergency room.
“I’m a doctor, I’m a doctor,” Dr. Giap, 35 years old, couldn’t take off his helmet in time and continuously shouted to squeeze into the crowd surrounding more than 20 injured people lying on the road. At the same time, Dr. Luong Hai Yen, 33 years old, his wife, took out a small knife and two towels from her bag, cut them into 4 pieces to immediately bandage the first patient she encountered. She encouraged everyone to find more clean pieces of wood and rope to fix broken limbs.
Recalling the emergency situation on the afternoon of April 13, Dr. Giap said: “The situation at that time was very chaotic.” The accident occurred in Dak To Re commune, Kon Ray district, Kon Tum province, between a passenger car carrying a delegation of Ho Chi Minh City Market Management officials and a tractor-trailer. Many patients are seriously ill, groans are heard everywhere. Doctor Giap and his wife, both working at Hung Vuong General Hospital, Gia Lai, coincidentally drove each other on motorbikes and were the earliest medical staff to arrive at the scene.
Doctor Giap treated the patient at the scene. Image: Hospital provided
“This is the first time I’ve treated the most patients, and I don’t have any tools in hand,” the male doctor said.
Doctor Giap assessed the victims and provided first aid, while exhorting everyone around to assist, trying to provide first aid to as many people as possible. He used a knife to cut the victim’s clothes to bandage their own wounds. A person with a broken cervical spine but still conscious and not in danger of life is asked to lie still and wait for a stiff stretcher to move to avoid death. Another person had a broken ankle and lost a lot of blood. The doctor used filtered water to wash the wound and then bandaged it to prevent blood loss.
At the same time, the two doctors urged everyone to find a way to get the other victims still in the accident car out, reminding them not to lift, carry, or carry the injured victim to avoid more serious injuries. People who are still conscious are instructed to sit still and monitor. If they experience dizziness or headache, they should immediately call for assistance.
Suddenly, a male victim became seriously ill, fell into a coma, and could not find a pulse. Doctor Yen noticed that the patient had signs of cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. He immediately compressed the heart on the spot and helped the patient regain his heartbeat. Then, two doctors asked a pickup truck to take this person to the nearest hospital, about 13 km away. Ms. Yen jumped into the trunk of the car and continued to perform chest compressions and artificial respiration for the patient all the way to the hospital.
“My arms are tired from constantly giving the patient chest compressions, but if I let go, the patient will have a hard time keeping his life,” said Dr. Yen.
While his wife accompanied the car to take the person in cardiac arrest to the hospital, Doctor Giap stayed at the scene to continue providing first aid and encouragement to the victims, waiting for the outside hospital ambulance team to arrive.
The 24 injured people were promptly given first aid by Doctor Giap and his wife at the scene, then were taken to Kon Tum hospital for emergency treatment. One person died, 15 people were taken to Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for treatment, of which one case is in critical condition, most of the rest have broken bones in many places.
Three people were seriously injured and could not be transferred to the hospital at this time to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, so they continued to be treated in Kon Tum. Others suffered minor injuries and did not require hospitalization.
The cause of the accident is being investigated by authorities.
The passenger car collided with a tractor and crashed into a sewer in Dak To Re commune, Kon Ray district, Kon Tum province. Image: Hospital provided