Members of a rescue team on the National Highway 5 prepare first aid material. — VNA/VNS Photo Tiến Vĩnh

Tiến Vĩnh

HẢI DƯƠNG — Holding an emergency medical kit, Nguyễn Ngọc Tuy rushes to help traffic accident victims after receiving a report of an accident from local residents.

That is a busy day for Tuy, a volunteer living near Phạm Xá Station, Kim Thành District, northern Hải Dương Province.

He has been working as a "special doctor" for more than 20 years to help traffic accident victims on National Highway 5 and saved many lives.

In recent years, the traffic density has increased and the number of fatal accidents risen.

Local officials say the population alongside the highway has become denser in recent years, and many people are putting their lives at risk by crossing the road in unsafe places. 

With a length of 45km running through Hải Dương Province, hundreds of traffic accidents occur every year on the highway.

In Kim Thành District, there are many accident black spots where road accidents occur along the highway passing through the province such as Phạm Xá station and Cộng Hòa Commune. Many people have been killed and injured along this section of the highway.

To help victims, local residents have set up emergency response teams. 

"We have offered assistance for many people in distress along the highway and do this work voluntarily," Tuy said. I have been in this job for many years and have gained more experience in first aid."

Nguyễn Văn Muôn, a member of Tuy's team, from Tân Hưng Village, Tuấn Việt Commune, said everyone on this team has been doing this for many years.

There are five people in this rescue team that often go to the scene of the accident immediately after receiving phones from local residents.

"At the scene, we evaluate injures to take accident victims to the local medical station or to hospital.

"With our experience and the trained knowledge, we offer first aid such as splinting for injures, using alcohol to disinfect wounds and a temporary bandage victims."

Another member of rescue team, Đào Quang Xuyên, said he still remembered the three fatal traffic accidents occurred within two hours on July 23, 2019 on a one kilometre section of the National Highway in Kim Thành District, killing seven people and injuring three.

"We rushed to the spot of the accidents when we received a report in early morning," he said. "We provided emergency aid for people with broken legs and arms, then called the doctors. We also directly took some of the victims to the hospital on stretchers or carried them on their backs."

A location where accidents frequently occur in Cộng Hòa Commune, Kim Thành District. — VNA/VNS Tiến Vĩnh

The rescue team on the National Highway 5 began spontaneously with care and concern for the person in an accident.

The volunteers' experience and knowledge of medical care for people suffering from accidents were limited.

In 2006, the provincial Red Cross Association coordinated with the Provincial Traffic Safety Board establishing 12 points along the highway through Hải Dương Province to help traffic accident victims with the support of a foreign medical project, aiming to improve  capacity of the first aid teams located along the Highway 5.

The project has medical devices and instruments and offered training for 120 volunteers and 270 young people and workers in enterprises on first aid methods and skills.

In 2002, the provincial Red Cross Association established two more emergency aid points in Kim Thành District, bringing the total number of first aid points along the National Highway 5 to 14.

Every year, each point gives first aid to around 165 people in traffic accidents.

Nguyễn Văn Thế, chairman of Hải Dương Red Cross Association, said most of the volunteers have been trained and certified in first aid.

They are mainly local people, also members of the communal Red Cross Society.

"Their operation has saved many lives and encourages people to support each other when needed," Thế said. — VNS