Vim & Vigor - Winter 2009 - (Page 54)

hanoi helping train vietnam’s first paramedics by carla carwile from to here The incidence of traffic-related trauma is high in Hanoi, as a sea of motorbikes serves the 6.2 million residents. S ome 8,000 air miles separate the Level I trauma center at St. Anthony Central Hospital and the bustling streets of Hanoi, Vietnam. But the quality of care being provided here is affecting emergency delivery there, thanks to the hospital serving as a clinical site for Vietnamese critical care physicians. The story actually begins 45 years ago, when Carl Bartecchi, M.D., a young flight surgeon in the U.S. Army, was stationed in Soc Trang. Friendships made then took him back to Vietnam in 1997, where he served as the visiting professor of critical care at Bach Mai Hospital—a large public hospital where 1,400 beds regularly accommodate as many as 2,200 patients. Moreover, he saw how Hanoi’s total lack of an emergency medical services system was claiming lives. Emergency teams were able to respond to just half of all calls to 115—Hanoi’s equivalent of our 911 system. Centura Health’s statewide trauma network has the largest emergency medical services support system in Colorado with medical direction to nearly 75 prehospital agencies. When the physicians returned to Vietnam, they did so as teachers in their respective areas of specialization. coordinated care A primary objective of the Bach Mai Project, now facilitated by Centura Health’s International Medical Missions, is to help Vietnam create a coordinated emergency medical services program. To that end, critical care physician Thanh Nguyen, M.D., recently spent six months in the metro Denver area becoming, in his words, “Vietnam’s first paramedic.” Several St. Anthony Central physicians—including critical care specialists Joe Heit, M.D., and Tom Bost, M.D., and neurosurgeon Stewart Levy, M.D.—have traveled there for on-site training and educational symposiums. “Our next goal is to develop a rural medicine program to extend emergency care into some severely underserved areas,” Bartecchi says. “We hope to be able to begin taking medical teams out in 2010.” an opportunity to serve Back home, Bartecchi contacted suppliers and foundations to secure gifts in kind and funding for medical equipment and textbooks. Support from Catholic Health Initiatives allowed the program to expand and secure 501(c)(3) status. Shortly thereafter, St. Anthony Central Hospital forged a “sister hospital” relationship with the Hanoi hospital, sharing its Level I trauma expertise and hosting medical professionals from Vietnam for advanced training in emergency medicine, critical care medicine and toxicology. how you can help Interested in supporting the Bach Mai Project through your gifts or service? Contact the St. Anthony Health Foundation at 303-629-4446. call vim & vigor · winte r 2 009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2009

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2009
Contents
Opening Thoughts
For Your Health
Close Call
Model Behavior
Is It a Sign?
Your Heart: The Owners Manual
Independence Days
The Right Stuff
Watch and Learn
Up to Speed
Pedi-Cures
It Ain't Brain Surgery
Centering Preganancy
Somebody Special
From Here to Hanoi
Community
Ask the Experts

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