Vietnam’s first International Trauma Life Support Training Centre debuts

Leaders of Military Hospital 175 receive certification as the first International Trauma Emergency Training Center in Vietnam. (Photo: VNA)

Director of the Military Hospital 175 Major General Tran Quoc Viet said the establishment of the international standard ITLS training center helps Vietnam proactively train and issue ITLS certificates according to United Nations requirements for medical forces in Vietnam and other countries when participating in peacekeeping activities. The center can also provide certification training for medical staff inside and outside the military facilities.

This was the 125th center in the world, the 5th in Southeast Asia and the first facility belonging to a military medical unit in the region. The center's 18 lecturers are people with at least 5 years of emergency resuscitation experience and foreign language proficiency, many of whom have participated in United Nations field hospitals. They underwent 15 months of training by foreign experts, of which 2 were awarded instructor degrees specializing in trauma emergencies in high-risk environments.

Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, said that the center not only helps improve self-professional training capacity for Vietnam's military medical staff, but also opens up training opportunities for forces of countries in the region to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Along with the dioxin detoxification project at Bien Hoa airport, this is the result of cooperation between Vietnam and the US, with humanitarian significance.

Military Hospital 175 is the final general hospital of the army. This is the first hospital in Ho Chi Minh City to provide emergency helicopter service. This place plans to build a multi-purpose emergency center, including waterways, airways and roads. In recent years, the hospital has participated in deploying level 2 field hospitals participating in United Nations peacekeeping in Africa.

It is expected that Vietnam's second ITLS center will be located at Military Hospital 103 in Hanoi./.