Saving the life of a patient who committed suicide by eating poison ivy in Nghe An

At 7:30 p.m. on April 14, the Combined Military-Civilian Medical Clinic (QDYKH) of Tri Le Border Post received patient VVB, 18 years old, residing in Lam village, Tri Le commune (Que Phong) in a state of severe poisoning, cyanosis, difficulty breathing, stiff limbs, unresponsive to calls, fast, weak pulse, low blood pressure.

According to his family, Mr. B. worked as a worker for a foreign company. Due to a conflict at work, he got into a fight with the factory manager and was fined 20 million VND and fired.

Border Guard doctors check the patient's health. Photo: Archive

On the afternoon of April 14, after drinking with friends, Mr. B. picked poison ivy leaves to eat in an attempt to commit suicide. His friends discovered it and informed his family, and he was taken to the QDYKH Clinic for emergency treatment.

Faced with the above situation, Captain, Doctor Le Anh Duc, the unit's medical officer, did ideological work and explained the patient's critical condition to his family members; at the same time, he quickly reported to the unit commander and the superior professional agency for instructions.

With the consent of the family and the unit commander, Dr. Le Anh Duc quickly carried out emergency methods and active treatment on the spot in the following order: Remove the poison from the body by crushing the banana stem and squeezing out the juice; combine with a handful of pennywort (washed with banana juice), crush it and squeeze out the juice, mix it with the juice from the banana stem. Then catch 2-3 live frogs and put them in the mixture of banana juice + pennywort for about 1 minute, then remove the frogs. Next, give the patient the mixed water to drink and use your hand to stimulate the patient's mouth to vomit until all the food in the stomach is gone.

Close-up of extremely poisonous hemlock plant. Photo: Document

Doctor Le Anh Duc “revealed”: Putting frogs in a cup of water is intended to create a fishy substance that stimulates vomiting in patients and only uses a mixture of banana stem water and pennywort; absolutely do not use cold water, boiling water and purified water… because it will cause the patient to die within 5 to 10 minutes.

Along with the mixed water, combine antibiotic injections: Histamine (Dimedron), heart stimulants, stimulants, Corticoid (Hydrococtison).

After 2 hours of intensive emergency care and resuscitation, patient Bao gradually recovered, no longer cyanotic, had less difficulty breathing, could talk and walk.

By the morning of April 15, after continuing treatment with cardiac and respiratory support, the patient's health was more stable, he could drink milk, eat porridge, and walk normally, so his family asked to take him home to continue recovering his health.

Lieutenant Colonel Pham Thanh Minh - Head of Tri Le Border Guard Station, said: This is not the first time a patient who committed suicide by eating poison ivy leaves has been saved by this method. In October 2016, patient Lo Van X., 19 years old, residing in Yen Son village, Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, due to marital conflict, ate poison ivy leaves to commit suicide, but was also promptly saved by the unit's medical staff./.