Vietnam military doctors train for UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan

Sixty three doctors in Vietnam's second field hospital headed for South Sudan join local and foreign experts on Thursday in a training session in Hanoi. This is the last session of the doctors' 12-day training course before they embark for South Sudan to take part in a U.N. peacekeeping mission.

The doctors take part in a drill to provide emergency treatment to a severely injured patient. Everything is done through orders in both Vietnamese and English.

International experts lay out eight hypothetical situations without giving advance notice and they have to be treated as if they are real situations. In addition to medical situations, the scenarios also include hospital evacuation due to bombing.

In the emergency room, a doctor practices providing first aid for wounds, diagnosing injuries and collecting patients' basic information before contacting other departments via walkie-talkies to prepare for surgeries.

First aid includes stopping bleeding and giving painkillers.

The doctors then take scans before transferring the ‘patient’ to the operating room. This entire process is observed and graded by foreign experts and experts from the Military Medical Academy.

"We point out shortcomings during the medical examination and treatment process to the doctors so that they can improve their skills before leaving for South Sudan," one of the experts said.

While the ‘surgery’ is being performed in the operation room, a doctor also provides treatment to another patient in the dental department. "The hospital must always be ready for situations in which several people receive emergency treatment at the same time," a doctor said.

The U.N. requires level-two field hospital to treat at least 40 outpatients in a day, resuscitation and transfer serious cases to higher-level hospitals, perform three to four surgeries in a day, treat 20 inpatients in seven days, maintain two mobile emergency care units outside the hospital, be self-reliant in ensuring adequate medical supplies and medicines for all situations.

For this hypothetical situation in which a person has a broken arm, the doctors practice immobilizing the injured area before transferring the patient to the operating room.

All equipment used in the drills are the same as those used in the field in South Sudan. During the drills, the supervising international experts paid special attention to hygiene and disinfection during the treatment of patients.

In October the level-two field hospital will be dispatched to South Sudan to take over from a 63-person level-one hospital Vietnam had sent last October. In addition to medical expertise, the doctors must also know enough English to meet U.N. requirements.