Donations of Medical Equipment Continue

Project HOPE presented a donation of durable medical equipment to the Binh Dinh General Hospital.

This is one of Vietnam’s largest hospitals, serving not only the city of Quy Nohn but the entire province of Binh Dinh and beyond—more than a million people. At the time of the visit approximately one thousand outpatients were being treated. There are many feeder clinics in the Hospital’s catchment area, and one of the nearest is Quang Tung Ward Clinic, to which Project HOPE made last week a coordinated major contribution of furnishings and equipment.

At the General Hospital the Intensive Care Unit was the specific site where the equipment was presented by Marshall Cusic, MD(retired Rear Admiral) and Faye Pyles PNP (retired US Navy Captain), director and operational director respectively for the Project HOPE team currently on the USNS Mercy. Receiving the equipment with thanks were Dr. Nguyin Hoang Minh, Vice-director of the Hospital and Dr. Nguyen Phan Auh Ngoc, Vice-director of the ICU.

The donation consisted of two types of items: 1. Pulse oximeters, for measuring heart rate and oxygen level; and 2. Syringe pump devices, for delivering controlled small quantities of fluids or medications such as pain-killers to adults or children. The equipment incorporated upgrades in the level of technology beyond the items the ICU previously used for these purposes.

The Project HOPE volunteers met also with members of the Pediatrics Division, namely Dr. Phan Van Dung, Vice-director and Dr. B.S.Minh, GPD. They explained the history of the unit, which has grown from a small entity and has had its own building since 1977. The focus was on the particulars of care for some of the children’s illnesses seen at our MEDCAPS (Medical Civic Assistance Projects) and onboard the Mercy, e.g., deafness and cardiac conditions.

The session ended with all present installing batteries in the new pulse oximeters to get them operational so we could test them on ourselves. We enjoyed measuring our individual resting pulses while speculating on reasons for the differences, cultural and otherwise. Throughout we were ably assisted by Ms. Nguyen Phuong Hoa from Hanoi and our young student translator from Hue University, Khuong Duy.

Thanks for reading - Mary Hamill, Project HOPE PAO

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