Nursing together — Australian and Vietnam: Trauma nursing in a developing country

Trauma care is part of the emergency nurse's everyday practice in Australia. It can range from a patient with a simple fracture to one with multiple traumatic injuries. Largely we have a well-developed and sophisticated prehospital service, especially in metropolitan areas. In most cases we are notified and are able to prepare for the arrival of a trauma patient. We are then able to action our trauma teams or plans and have a focussed, systematic way of assessing, resuscitating and managing the patient.

Imagine working in a hospital in a country where systems are limited. In Vietnam trauma is one of the ten leading causes of death and is the leading cause of death in people aged 5 to 45 years. It accounts for the highest number of occupied hospital beds. Road traffic accidents are responsible for half the injury deaths and they increased four fold between 1989 and 1998.

Emergency departments (EDs) in Vietnam do not receive prehospital notification of an incoming trauma victim, there is little or no prehospital care because most patients are brought to hospital by private car. Basic supplies that we take for granted, such as cervical collars, are not readily available and; on the whole, ED staff are unable to prepare for a trauma patient's arrival.

This article is a description of our visit to Vietnam in March 2003. It is a snapshot of life and trauma management in another health system, in one hospital in a developing country.