Suffocating to save patient in super storm

Sitting in an ambulance still wearing a helmet

With 15 years of experience as a driver for the Hanoi 115 emergency team, performing tens of thousands of emergency trips, but perhaps for Mr. Dao Dung Tien, the emergency trips during the night of Typhoon Yagi are unforgettable memories.

Hanoi 115 Emergency Team.

Mr. Tien said that although he had mentally prepared that the emergency would be more difficult because of the previous forecast of the intensity of super typhoon Yagi, he and his medical team did not expect it to be so difficult.

Mr. Tien will always remember the emergency on the night of September 7, when he received a call about a patient with critical respiratory failure, while his family was short of people, only an elderly couple nearly 80 years old.

The entire emergency team quickly got into the car. The road was deserted, only the roar of the wind and rain making the trees on both sides of the road collapse.

"We were shocked when the bus almost flipped over when turning from Ngoc Ha slope onto Hoang Hoa Tham street. The strong wind blew sideways as the bus turned into the curve, as if it wanted to lift the wheels off the road, making everyone's heart skip a beat. Luckily, we arrived in time," Mr. Tien recalled.

Mr. Tien added that the emergency team had never sat in a vehicle wearing helmets and raincoats, ready to face the dangers of a storm like this.

24/7 on call regardless of circumstances

Also on that stormy night, overcoming dozens of obstacles of fallen trees, the emergency team of Dr. Nguyen Huyen Linh (Hanoi 115 Emergency Center) also reached an elderly patient with severe respiratory failure in a small alley in Lang Ha.

While moving, Dr. Linh squeezed the balloon to support the 95-year-old man's breathing. The unexpected happened a few minutes after the car started moving, the patient's heart suddenly stopped beating. Immediately, the "red alert" for cardiac arrest was activated.

Dr. Linh and his teammates took turns performing CPR on the patient at over 100 beats per minute while the car was constantly shaking and had to brake suddenly due to the storm. Luckily, after 5 minutes of continuous CPR, the patient had a pulse again, just in time for the car to arrive at the Transport Hospital.

During the 5 hours of peak storm and rain on the evening of September 7, Dr. Linh's emergency team successfully completed a total of 5 emergency trips to other hospitals.

According to Dr. Tran Anh Thang, Deputy Director of Hanoi 115 Emergency Center, regardless of storms, the center is still on duty to perform its duties as usual.

During storm No. 3, the center responded to 112/112 emergency requests, served 83 emergency patients, and transported 15 patients to the hospital.

Many people hospitalized during storm prevention

As the place that suffered the most damage when Typhoon Yagi made landfall, raging for 5-6 hours, many medical facilities in Quang Ninh were severely devastated by the storm.

All 24 medical examination and treatment units lost water and electricity, partially or completely, had to use generators, most had their roofs blown off, and their windows broken...

A medical official said that many hospitals had to ask for clean water by the can for patients to use. Due to the prolonged power outage, hospitals also transported barrels of gasoline to serve the generators.

Dr. Nguyen Tien Dung, Deputy Director of Quang Ninh General Hospital, said that despite being severely affected in terms of facilities and equipment, the medical unit has provided emergency care to hundreds of patients, ensuring inpatient treatment.

Since storm No. 3 made landfall, the hospital has received an average of 200 cases per day from Ha Long City and other lower-level medical facilities.

On September 6-7, the facility received about 20 patients injured by the storm, including 6 serious cases that are receiving intensive treatment. Most of the patients suffered injuries from glass fragments, metal sheets, and serious injuries during the storm prevention and control process.

Here, Mr. NHH (residing in Ha Long City), one of the accident victims while taking people to shelter, was hit by a flying billboard and became unconscious. He is currently recovering.

"There was a power and water outage for 3-4 days during the storm, but the hospital still tried to fix it to ensure patients could feel secure during treatment," he shared.

Similarly, at Bai Chay Hospital, during storm No. 3, the emergency unit treated over 120 patients. Among them, there were many seriously ill patients with brain injuries and multiple traumas.

Because we have prepared plans for electricity, water, medicine, and fabric to meet the needs of medical examination, treatment, and emergency care, we have limited the need for patients to be transferred to other facilities.

According to preliminary statistics from the Quang Ninh Department of Health, during Typhoon Yagi, medical units here received 1,153 patients for examination and treatment due to the storm.

Quang Ninh's health sector also received 136 emergency calls during the storm. Of these, the Emergency Transport Center successfully coordinated and transported 62 emergency vehicles to medical units.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/nghet-tho-cuu-nguoi-benh-trong-sieu-bao-192240913173412397.htm