Doctor Nguyễn Thanh Giang with a patient. — Photo courtesy of baosuckhoedoisong.vn

QUẢNG NINH — As one of five doctors and nurses who volunteered to go to the island during the founding days of the island district of Cô Tô in Quảng Ninh Province, doctor Nguyễn Thanh Giang spent his entire youth on the mission of saving people on the remote island.

Born and raised in Vân Đồn Island District, Giang, 51, has been involved with Cô Tô Island health care for nearly 30 years and is currently the director of Cô Tô Island District’s Medical Centre.

In 1994, responding to the call of the Quảng Ninh authority, right after graduating from the Quảng Ninh Nursing College, Giang – at that time being a nurse only – enthusiastically volunteered to go to the island to work.

Together with Giang were four other colleagues, each with a different specialty.

Seeing that medical conditions on the island were difficult in terms of human resources, the 22-year-old nurse registered to take the university entrance exam.

In 1997, Giang passed the exam and attended Hải Phòng Medical University.

Three years later, he continued to study obstetrics and took on surgical work in the island district.

However, due to the lack of medical human resources, to ensure good emergency work in offshore areas, Dr. Giang also had to learn anaesthesia and emergency resuscitation.

"When I informed my family that I was going to Cô Tô Island to work, everyone in the family was shocked and tried to dissuade me,” Giang recalled.

“But at that time, the spirit of youth was overwhelming, wanting to conquer and challenge the new land, so I was still determined to go,” Giang told suckhoedoisong.vn.

“In the very first days on the island, we felt a bit confused and depressed because it was so difficult and strenuous, even running water was not easy to get,” he said.

“Faced with the reality of those living conditions, I was concerned about how health care for people and fishermen could be guaranteed and how to respond to serious cases,” the doctor said.

The entire medical centre at that time had only three rows of one-story tile-roofed buildings without electricity, lacking fresh water and green vegetables.

Doctors and nurses had to use patients’ beds to sleep after each day's work.

“After work, we had to go to the forest to get firewood to cook and boil large pots of water and then share buckets to bathe in winter,” Giang said.

“When missing home, we just encouraged each other to try and try,” he said.

In the 90s, transportation from the mainland to Cô Tô Island was not as easy as it is now.

The main transportation was wooden boats and each trip took 3-4 hours. When there were high waves and rough seas, boat service would be suspended.

Therefore, doctors and nurses only returned to the mainland when it was absolutely necessary so they came to visit their families every 6 months or one year.

The only mode of communication between the mainland and the island was the landline phone.

Cô Tô Island District's Medical Centre. — Photo suckhoedoisong.vn

“After six years, in 2000, I graduated from university, got married and had children, but life on the island had not yet improved much,” Giang said.

“I was allocated a small room at the centre. I had to use two patient beds to make a bed and then I rented a one-story tile-roofed house to stay temporarily,” he said.

“My life was hard and poor with a meagre salary of just over VNĐ1 million (US$67 in 2000) per month, so after working hours, I cycled and carried my bag to the patient's houses to give fluid transfusion to earn extra income," he said.

Despite such hardships, Dr. Giang always overcame all difficulties.

During nearly 30 years of working on the island, the doctor never once had any intention of returning to the mainland, even though his family, siblings and friends often advised him to, for better development opportunities.

Medical conditions on the island were truly difficult in terms of both treatment equipment and human resources, so most staff in the centre had to concurrently undertake several different specialties and jobs.

"Even I myself had to take on many tasks. In addition to managing and operating the centre's activities, I was also in charge of the departments of internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and paediatrics,” he said.

During field trips for medical examination and treatment for fishermen and people in communes, realising that commune health care facilities still had countless difficulties, Giang himself proposed the provincial authority grant more oxygen tanks and ultrasound machines to help detect severe cases early.

Giang also examined, exchanged experiences and gave instructions to the commune medical staff to improve their expertise and initial first aid skills, enabling them to treated simple cases on the spot.

For nearly 30 years working at Cô Tô Medical Centre, Dr. Giang has successfully performed countless surgeries and emergency operations.

There were cases that seemed to offer no chance of life, such as circulatory arrest, no pulse, no blood pressure and some patients who were unable to breathe or could not receive oxygen getting pale and convulsions, which were also saved by the efforts of Dr. Giang and the emergency team.

"I still vividly remember the birth at the dock,” he recalled.

“First, the mother's family insisted on taking her to the mainland to give birth because they said it only took 10 minutes to get from the island to the mainland.

“Assessing the mother’s condition at that moment, I was sure it would be dangerous for her to get on the boat to the mainland, so I asked the family to let her give birth at the centre.

“But her family was determined to put her on a boat to leave the island. And it was as I predicted when preparing to board the boat, the newborn baby stuck one leg out.

“At that moment, I didn't have time to think too much, I went straight down to help the baby out. When I got the baby out of the mother's womb, his whole body turned purple. Seeing that the amount of emergency oxygen I brought with me was not enough for the surgery. I quickly asked to move the boat to the centre and performed first aid within two minutes on the boat. Luckily, the baby was saved and the mother was in good condition,” the doctor said.

When mentioning Giang, the most senior doctor in the island district, many islanders say: "Without Dr. Giang, I would probably be gone now." — VNS