As the Lunar New Year of 2024 approaches, the provincial healthcare sector is focusing on monitoring, detecting, and promptly handling infectious diseases. Particularly, localities are arranging forces to provide 24/7 emergency response and medical examination and treatment for the people, ensuring that there is no shortage of medication.
Tan Uyen city Medical Center adds up doctors and nurses for 24/7 emergency during Tet
24/7 response
During the days leading up to Tet, along with their daily professional duties, healthcare facilities in the province also develop plans and schedules for the holiday. These plans are specifically designed by each nurse and doctor to take care of and treat critically ill patients who cannot go home, ensuring they have a warm Tet right at the hospital. The medical staff's professional work, examination, and treatment during the 7 days of Tet are also guaranteed so that no patient is denied treatment or medical examination.
Information from the Provincial General Hospital reveals that this year the hospital has arranged both doctors and nurses to ensure emergency response, examination, and treatment services for patients and maintain security and order at the hospital. Some key departments have assigned doctors and nurses to be on duty 24/7, such as the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, and in case of mass poisoning incidents. The Pharmacy Department is preparing and forecasting the supply of emergency and treatment drugs for the Lunar New Year. In addition, the hospital is also fully prepared with blood, blood products, and other equipment such as electricity, water, patient transportation vehicles, ambulance teams, ensuring smooth information flow, a well-functioning internal network system, ensuring fee collection, fire and explosion prevention, and maintaining security and order to be ready to serve patients.
In an interview with us, Ms. Tran Thi Mai Trinh, Head of the Planning and Operations Department at the Tan Uyen City Health Center, stated that as in previous years, the hospital regularly plans to mobilize doctors and nurses to be on duty 24/7. In experience, starting from the third day of the Lunar New Year, the number of emergency patients begins to increase. The majority of hospitalized patients are those involved in accidents and have consumed alcohol or beer. During the holiday, there are medical staff on duty at the hospital every day to provide emergency care, examination, and treatment for patients, ensuring that all emergency patients are promptly examined and treated without any refusal or delayed response. The hospital is equipped with a full supply of medicine and medical supplies, ensuring service without requiring patients to purchase medication from outside sources.
The prevention of infectious diseases during Tet
According to the Preventive Health Department, Ministry of Health, the situation of infectious diseases worldwide is still complex, especially respiratory-transmitted diseases. According to the World Health Organization's statistics, in December 2023, the world recorded nearly 10,000 deaths from COVID-19, with a 42% increase in hospital admissions compared to November 2023; new variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to undergo continuous changes. Currently, the JN.1 variant has been rapidly increasing worldwide. The United States, China, and several European countries have also reported a resurgence in COVID-19 infections along with the spread of respiratory diseases. Especially, the upcoming period is the occasion of the 2024 Lunar New Year of the Horse and the beginning of the year festivities. The demand for trade and tourism is expected to increase, along with unusual weather patterns, creating favorable conditions for disease transmission agents to spread, leading to an increase in the number of cases, especially among children with weak immune systems and elderly people with underlying health conditions, who are more susceptible to infectious diseases.
In Binh Duong province, in 2023, there were recorded 1,838 cases of COVID-19 (with 2 fatal). In the early weeks of 2024, Binh Duong recorded 2 new cases of Covid-19. Dr. Huynh Minh Chin, Deputy Director of the Department of Health, stated that the department has just sent a document to the provincial departments, agencies, organizations, and the People's Committees of districts, towns, and cities to coordinate and strengthen the efforts in preventing and controlling infectious diseases, ensuring healthcare services for the Lunar New Year of 2024.
The Department of Health has requested healthcare units to regularly monitor and closely supervise the situation of epidemic diseases in the area, paying attention to the increasing number of cases transmitted through respiratory routes and severe cases of viral pneumonia. They should proactively carry out surveillance work, continue to effectively implement regular monitoring based on events to promptly detect cases within the community and healthcare facilities, handle them in a timely manner, control the spread, and limit severe cases and fatalities. Good implementation of expanded vaccination efforts is maintained as local healthcare facilities are effectively carrying out patient admission and timely treatment, especially during the Lunar New Year in 2024, in order to minimize severe cases, deaths, and control infections to prevent cross-contamination.
Reported by Kim Ha – Translated by Vi Bao
