OUR IMPACT

MotoMedic Vietnam will improve survival rates from respiratory distress, cardiac arrest, and trauma. It will also increase reliability and use of emergency medical services, which are currently used in only a small percentage of medical emergencies.

The usefulness of basic, rapid life-support services has been recognized internationally. In a study of the United States' pre-hospital trauma care system, three authors concluded, "A desirable and cost-effective design might include highly mobile, BLS (basic life support) non-transport FRs (first responders), with short response times (average 2-4 min), being capable of providing early care and airway support, coupled with ensuing ALS (advanced life support) care and transport services" (Blackwell, T., Kellam, J., and Thomason, M. (2003) "Trauma care systems in the United States" Injury International Journal Care Injured 34, 737).

THE NEED FOR MOTOMEDICS

Vietnam’s emergency medical response system currently lacks a means of reaching people in the critical window of time after a life-threatening event. Developing and improving the ambulance system within cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city (HCMC) will not improve this situation, because (1) traffic congestion within the city can cause roadblocks that are impassable for cars/trucks for extended time and (2) many of the city’s residents continue to live on alleyways which are unreachable by ambulance, as they can be as small as 3 feet wide. As a result, further developing the ambulance system alone will not be adequate, though they are still necessary if a patient needs to have life-support present in the vehicle that is transporting them to the hospital.

First responders on motorbikes that can be dispatched simultaneously with an ambulance will reach the patient faster in traffic because they can more easily be located at dispersed centers through the city and because the average transit time on a motorbike (with a siren) would be an estimated half to one-third the time of an ambulance. Moreover, they can drive directly to the patient’s address if they live on a small alley, so that they do not have physically walk or run to the patient. They can carry inexpensive drugs and possess an intermediate level of training, but these are the critical items that can save someone’s life if they get there fast enough and provides a trained care-giver who can stabilize a patient until an ambulance gets there, or can determine the patient can go to the hospital by some other means immediately, instead of waiting for an ambulance.

Vietnam has the infrastructure to support motorbike first responders. Vietnam has already developed and trained a dispatcher service for ambulances (Dial 115). A partnership can be created so that they can also reach out to dispatch motorbike ambulances then that element is already in place.