L2FH rotation 2 actively joins FTX events

PANO – As part of the ongoing field training exercise (FTX), the staff of Vietnam’s Level-two Field Hospital rotation 2 (L2FH2) has practiced dealing with various medical, logistic and technical situations which often occur during the operation of a field hospital at a UN peacekeeping mission.

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On June 26, the staff of the L2FH2 dealt with a mass casualty incident, as they had to receive victims of an explosion, including one dead after severely wounded. Other severe cases included those with wounds in the abdomen, legs, and other parts of the body. All of them were hospitalized massively at the same time.

Earlier, the staff had provided treatment for patients with a crushed hand bitten by a dog, injured kidneys, high blood pressure, bronchial asthma, and more. They cured diseases that commonly known at UN peacekeeping missions, such as malaria, and acute diarrhea. Especially, the staff of the hospital dealt with situations when patients complained that their health was deteriorating after treatment and organized air medevac plans.

A snapshot of the FTX

During the FTX, the staff also dwelt on situations related to the hospital’s logistic supplies and technical services, ensuring that they are trained with close-to-reality situations. They also ran through circumstances like receiving UN leaders and military chiefs inspecting the hospital and conducted regular procedures at a field hospital like sending reports to the headquarters of the UN mission or ensuring security and safety.

Over the past more than a week of the FTX, the staff of the L2FH2 has dealt with a total of 27 scenarios related to all aspects of the hospital’s operation similar to those occurring at a field hospital at a UN mission. During the drill sessions, experts have continuously set questions and added extra scenarios, requiring the hospital’s staff to immediately make on-site decisions and responses.

Apart from medical professional expertise, all sections and departments of the hospital had to closely coordinate with each other when dealing with arising events. Furthermore, all the events had to be solved in line with standardized procedures of the UN, under close supervision of both Vietnamese and foreign experts, who observed and pinpointed shortcomings for the staff of the hospital to fix later.

The FTX activities have helped the L2FH2 have a better grasp of the procedures concerning patient reception, medical general practices, treatment as well as the management of the hospital in line with the UN standards.

Sharing with reporters of the People’s Army Newspaper, Major Nguyen Van Tam, Head of the Outpatient Department, said, “During the FTX, we provided emergency aid and treatment for patients with different levels of injuries. We were successful in a number of contents, but there is still room to improve. Thanks to the support of both Vietnamese and foreign experts, we have had chance to gradually improve our knowledge, skills and medical expertise in line UN standards. We have learnt from evaluations of experts and drawn invaluable lessons. At present, we are confident and ready to undertake our duty in South Sudan.”

Australian Expert Andrew Pearce held that, “It’s been a very interesting time this morning looking at a mass casualty incident, which puts any institution under a lot of pressure. The team here at the level two facility is prepared extremely well. They had a great response by being able to triage the patients outside the facility, and then be ready to have the team accept the patients when they came inside the facility. Mass casualty incidents are never simple. There are a lot of complex decisions that need to be made. Today, the team has gone through and done a fantastic job, and they will debrief and learn from what they have done today so that they can put that further into practice to gain further experience.”

The L2FH2 has now entered the integrated training phase lasting for three days. Below are a number of images recorded during the FTX on June 26.