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Vo Tri Bao Hung |
But this is no ordinary war. The enemy is very dangerous, attacking people very quickly in many places, but no one can see him.
I am currently a doctor on call at a Covid-19 field hospital in District 12 of Ho Chi Minh City. These days, every one or two minutes, we get calls asking if the hospital still has room for new cases.
The hospital, which has a capacity of 2,500 beds, began operations on July 5. In the first three days he admitted 600 Covid-19 patients before the number doubled the next day and in less than a week we had 2,480 patients.
This is the first time that I have faced such a large and rapidly growing number of patients.
There were times when traffic jams occurred just on the way from the hospital door to the treatment areas. The field hospital was moved to a relocation house, so it had to stop temporarily accepting patients sometimes to repair rooms and equipment.
At the start of last week, we worked most of the night to organize the admission of thousands of patients and their meals. The hospital orders meals for patients and outside staff, but under the impact of social distancing measures, food normally arrives 2-3 hours late and breakfast is served 9-10 a.m. doctors eat dinner at 9 p.m. or later.
In recent days, meal times have improved, only being late by about an hour. The hospital received food from benefactors, thus improving the situation.
The field hospital is focusing on screening Covid-19 patients to detect those with serious illnesses and transfer them to hospitals specializing in the treatment of these cases.
Usually my day starts at 6 a.m. I visit all patients to see if anyone has developed critical symptoms and needs to be moved, and I repeat the inspection twice a day.
My phone keeps ringing early in the morning until late at night and most of them are calls asking us to receive new cases, transfer severe patients, see patients and their families, and to manage other hospital activities.
I normally go to bed at 2-3 in the morning. Each doctor spends the night on a canvas bed with a pillow and a blanket. I guess you have to expect a rustic existence in a country hospital.
In fact, medical staff only need basic living conditions, and sleeping on a canvas bed is already a privilege. The hospital could not equip us all with what is much more important in the fight against Covid-19, such as masks, gloves and protective suits.
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Medical staff rest after receiving Covid-19 patients at a field hospital in HCMC, July 2021. Photo by VnExpress / Huu Khoa. |
The field hospital medical staff come from different provinces and cities.
My hometown is in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre and I saved a few minutes every few days to call home. Only listening to the voices of my loved ones can make me happy.
This is the second time that I have joined the first medical line in the fight against Covid-19.
The first time was during the first wave last year. I worked for two months at the Cu Chi District Field Hospital.
We doctors were also very busy at the time, but the pressure was not as intense as it is now in HCMC.
We know we need to work as quickly as possible so that more patients have a place to rest, eat and receive care. Everyone has to find their own reserves of strength and many of my colleagues seem exhausted.
Recently, the hospital has received more staff. Now with 45 doctors, over 60 nurses and over 70 nursing assistants, we’ve been able to divide our shifts, but it’s still impossible to avoid overload.
Fortunately, most of the Covid patients here are mild and asymptomatic. If the number of critical cases were to increase, we would not know how to handle the situation.
More and more field hospitals are being opened, but most are faced with the problem of a lack of medical staff and equipment.
So, even as we continue to do our best, we know that the fiercest days of this battle against an unseen enemy are yet to come.
* Vo Tri Bao Hung is a doctor at a Covid-19 field hospital in District 12 of Ho Chi Minh City. The city is currently the epicenter of Vietnam’s fourth wave of Covid-19, by far the most difficult the country has faced.
