9X Nghe An doctor volunteers to accompany F0 patients

Midnight Calls

One day after being diagnosed with Covid-19 due to infection from a classmate, NBN - a student at Truong Thi Secondary School (Vinh City) showed symptoms of difficulty breathing. At that time, N only had her sister, a 10th grade student, by her side. N's mother worked far away, and when she received a phone call from her daughter at nearly 11pm, she felt like she was sitting on a pile of fire.

Through the connection of relatives at home, she called Dr. Le Thi Thuy Trang - a doctor at the General Radiology Department - Nghe An Oncology Hospital. The first call had a signal but no one answered. While she was confused, Dr. Trang called back and gave her enthusiastic and gentle advice, even though at that time, her daughter did not have a SpO2 blood oxygen level meter. Thanks to the timely advice, her health has gradually stabilized and she is waiting for the day of recovery...

Doctor Thuy Trang is a former student of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Photo: NVCC

For nearly a month now, Dr. Le Thi Thuy Trang has been “forgetting to eat and sleep.” Phone calls in the middle of the night or early in the morning have become normal, especially after she updated her personal phone number on her personal Facebook page to receive F0 consultation support at home for people. Many calls came while she was treating patients and did not have her phone with her. However, immediately after that, all missed calls were returned by her directly.

Most recently, a mother with a 17-month-old child also called Trang with great concern because her child was too young and had a history of otitis media. After beingCovid-19The baby had a fever for three days without improvement and also had a runny ear. The family was also reluctant to transfer the baby to a field hospital for various reasons...

Because this is a case with a risk of becoming serious, in addition to promptly talking to the family, Dr. Trang also asked the baby's mother to update the baby's health regularly to prevent bad risks. Up to now, after 6 consecutive days of the baby being infected, the baby's health has begun to change positively.

Doctor Thuy Trang and young colleagues. Photo: NVCC

Talking about this special job, Dr. Le Thi Thuy Trang said: In recent days, the number ofpatientacross the province has increased dramatically. The first time infected with Covid-19, any patient will be worried and confused. With my experience, I want to directlyadviseKeep the patient calm to monitor himself at home.

I also think that, although I can't help much, I hope that my encouragement will somehow help the patient feel less afraid...

Connection helps patients feel less confused

Dr. Le Thi Thuy Trang was born in 1995 and has just graduated from the General Medicine Department - Hanoi Medical University for two years. She is a former student of the Chemistry class -Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, Trang came to the medical profession as a matter of course because this was her dream since childhood. After graduating, Trang worked at Nghe An Oncology Hospital. Daily contact with patients who were on the brink of death made Trang more responsible for her work.

Health check for F0 patient. Photo: NVCC

Currently, in addition to working at the Oncology Hospital, since December 23, Trang has been assigned to Field Hospital No. 3 in Cua Lo. For the past month, because of her own duties, Trang has not been able to return home and this is also the first year she celebrates Tet away from her parents and family.

The female doctor born in the 9X generation shared: Before Tet, the number of F0 patients increased rapidly. I received the task of strengthening the Field Hospital at 5:00 p.m. At that time, I seemed to have no preparation and only had time to test for Covid-19 before leaving. Celebrating Tet at the hospital was a very special experience, but I did not feel sad because I had colleagues by my side, and it was more meaningful because I could be with the patients in the most difficult times.

Tet in the Field Hospital of Trang and her colleagues. Photo: NVCC

Working at the Field Hospital and the experience gained from “real people, real work” were also the reasons why Dr. Le Thi Thuy Trang decided to provide F0 consultation to patients at home. However, what Trang did not expect was that the number of patients calling was so large, even though she had previously thought that “it was mainly for consultation with friends and relatives because I don’t have many friends on Facebook”.

The time Dr. Thuy Trang posted this information was also the time when F0 increased in the whole province and her information was shared by many other individuals on social networks. After the phone was overloaded, Trang also connected with many other doctors such as Dr. Van (Endocrinology Hospital), Dr. Hoa (Cua Dong Hospital), Dr. Tuoc (Military Region 4 Hospital), Dr. Duc (Lung Hospital), Dr. Cong (Oncology Hospital) to provide timely support. In addition, Trang and her colleagues also participated in the Project of Treating F0 Patients at Home from Ho Chi Minh City to call on doctors across the country to join in supporting and consulting F0 patients in the area.

Before me, Dr. Tuoc, Dr. Hoa and many other colleagues also devoted themselves to taking care of Covid-19 patients at home during the outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City. They were the ones who motivated me to support FO patients in Nghe An.

Doctor Le Thi ThuyPage

After nearly a week of direct consultation with patients, Dr. Thuy Trang shared, “Currently, most F0 patients have been vaccinated, so their symptoms are not severe or they have no symptoms. Therefore, treatment at home can be as effective as in hospitals. Meanwhile, at home, patients will receive more complete care and nutrition.”

The current difficulty is that there is too much information, so many families are treated in the wrong way. Specifically, according to Dr. Trang, "Many patients, when they first get sick, buy and use a lot of drugs such as antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs.

Meanwhile, patients only have symptoms such as headaches and a few other normal symptoms that do not require medication. In addition, there are patients who spend a lot of money to buy antiviral drugs from Russia, Germany, and India for treatment even though these drugs have not been licensed for use by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. Using too many unnecessary drugs will also affect the patient's health.

Doctors and patients at a field hospital during the Lunar New Year. Photo: NVCC

Telephone treatment and consultation at this time is also suitable for the actual situation and does not affect the treatment process.

Dr. Trang also shared: in some cases of severe patients, she and her colleagues will directly record a clip of the patient's symptoms, then conduct a consultation and treatment. Currently, when treating patients via phone and social networking applications, Dr. Trang also requires the patient's family to provide complete information about height, weight, vaccination time, underlying diseases (if any) and health symptoms (including videos) to be able to diagnose and support accurately and promptly.

With so many jobs that are difficult to name since receiving treatment consultation for F0 patients over the phone, Dr. Le Thi Thuy Trang also had more emotions that she had never had before and were very different from what she learned in school. Dr. Trang believes that although the epidemic is still complicated, from difficulties, each person can connect and share more. From this activity, Trang also learned a lot from her colleagues. Currently, the program has been spread and more and more doctors in the whole province are joining hands for the community, for F0 patients.

My Ha