The passion of the green-uniformed military doctor at the Gari border

Up to now, Gari commune (Tay Giang district), a border area adjacent to Laos, has always been considered the most remote and difficult place in Quang Nam province. Although the Party and State have paid attention to it, the local government has invested in many electricity, road, school and station projects, however, the life of the people here is not easy due to harsh climate conditions, low educational level and economic and social starting point. However, Major Pham Van Hiep was not discouraged because of that, on the contrary, he soon determined that he had to make efforts, self-study, and improve his skills to be able to fulfill his tasks in this place where difficulties outweigh advantages.

Major of the Military Police Pham Van Hiep takes care of a patient with mushroom poisoning on December 12, 2023.

With more than 3 years of working at the Gari border, many times, Major Pham Van Hiep and the doctors of the Gari Commune Health Station have saved dozens of people from food poisoning. Through each rescue, he learned from his experience to do better next time. On a dark night at the end of March 2020, he received a call from the Head of the Gari Commune Health Station asking for support because nearly 40 people from Da Dinh village (Gari commune) were vomiting and had stomachaches after attending a wedding that afternoon. Without thinking much, he quickly organized the classification, measured blood pressure and vital signs, and prioritized IV fluids for those who were seriously ill to avoid dehydration that would lead to cardiovascular collapse; those who were less seriously ill switched to using ORS. In fact, the amount of medicine at that time was not enough to meet the number of adults with food poisoning at the same time, Mr. Hiep remembered the medicine of his teacher when he was studying at the Military Medical College. He washed the rice, then put it in a pan and fried it dry. Next, he boiled water, added a little salt and sugar, then filtered the water, let it cool, and gave it to the poisoned people to drink.

With this remedy, Major Pham Van Hiep and the doctors of Gari Commune Health Station saved the lives of 41 people suffering from food poisoning at a wedding in A Ting village (Gari commune) in June 2021. After saving everyone from the critical stage, he, together with local health workers and people, organized environmental treatment to prevent the spread of the disease.

At about 7:00 p.m. on December 12, 2023, when Major Pham Van Hiep was asked by the unit commander to go to G'lao village (Gari commune) because Mr. Ta Ngon Lang (76 years old), Ms. Ta Ngon Thi Nhuu (37 years old) and Riah Thi Senh (33 years old) had a stomachache, vomited and gradually lost consciousness after the whole family ate rice with mushrooms picked from the forest. Realizing that this was an urgent situation, on one hand he asked to immediately take the 3 people to the Commune Health Station, while he took the military medicine bag and quickly left the unit. Through examination, Major Pham Van Hiep found that all 3 people were in a state of severe convulsions, showing signs of dehydration, vomiting, shock, low blood pressure, and cardiovascular collapse, so he organized initial emergency care by injecting cardiac stimulants, high-speed infusion to stabilize blood pressure, and detoxify. That whole night, he hardly slept, staying on duty to promptly handle the patients' negative health symptoms. After 4 days of support and treatment, Mr. Ta Ngon Lang, Ms. Ta Ngon Thi Nhuu and Riah Thi Senh have overcome the critical stage, their blood pressure is stable, they are conscious, and are eligible to go home.

Be proactive in your work

For Major Pham Van Hiep, "treating and saving people" is not just about prescribing medicine when someone is sick, but he also has deeper thoughts.   In reality, some Co Tu people in the area, especially the elderly and middle-aged people, still have backward thinking. Even in cases of food poisoning and eating poisonous mushrooms, some people still have the idea of ​​not getting injections or IVs but wanting to be treated with Co Tu folk remedies. At times like these, Major Pham Van Hiep has to patiently explain so that people understand and cooperate to treat and quickly recover from the disease. Therefore, Major Pham Van Hiep's concern is how to increasingly improve people's knowledge and awareness so that people can proactively prevent diseases.

Major Pham Van Hiep checks the unit's medicine stock to serve the work of being ready to help and support the people.

As a professional, Major Pham Van Hiep always maintains and shows respect for grassroots health care, so he always encourages people to go to the health station when they are sick. According to him, the commune health station today has been invested in facilities, not only in hospital beds and medicine cabinets but also in the professional qualifications of the person in charge. The list of medicines provided under health insurance is also rich, so people coming here for medical examination and treatment will enjoy many benefits. For Major Pham Van Hiep, respecting grassroots health care is also for the two sides to coordinate more effectively in health care for people in the area. In places where infrastructure and facilities are still lacking, coordination between the parties is very important.

Every day, in addition to focusing on direct health care for officers and soldiers in the unit, Major Pham Van Hiep has many advisors for the unit commander to have appropriate measures to ensure health and ensure medicine for regular tasks and combat readiness tasks. He also spends time reading many documents to gain knowledge to advise soldiers on how to prevent cancer and cardiovascular diseases - diseases that have increased rapidly in recent years. His dedication to work and attentiveness to his comrades and teammates make Major Pham Van Hiep always trusted by his superiors and loved by officers and soldiers in the unit.

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/phong-su/tam-huyet-cua-y-si-quan-ham-xanh-noi-bien-gioi-gari-817051