On February 24, news from Khanh Hoa 115 Emergency Center said that it had deployed remote cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidance via video call for people at the scene of a drowning incident in the beach area of Ninh Thinh village, Ninh Phuoc, Ninh Hoa (old).
Although doctors tried their best, the victim did not survive due to severe injuries and prolonged cardiac arrest.
According to information from Khanh Hoa 115 Emergency Center, at about 9:35 pm on February 23, the switchboard received an emergency call reporting a drowning case.
The time of discovery of the victim has not been determined to have stopped breathing, stopped heartbeat for how long, the condition is assessed as critical.
Physician Nguyen Thi Kieu Oanh is the switchboard operator receiving the call.
Immediately after quickly exploiting initial information, physician Oanh instructed people to connect through the Zalo application to make video calls, helping medical staff directly observe the victim's condition and perform first aid on the spot.
After successful connection, physician Nguyen Tri Tam directly participated in the call, specifically guiding each step of cardiopulmonary resuscitation such as reflex check, chest compression, support for proper technique of suffocation, and maintaining continuous compression.
While waiting for medical forces to arrive, people at the scene calmly followed the instructions. Heart compression operations were maintained continuously in the hope of regaining the victim's life.
However, when the medical staff of Ninh Hoa Regional Health Center arrived, after examination and clinical assessment, it was determined that the victim had prolonged circulatory arrest, and the injury was too severe to be saved.
Representatives of Khanh Hoa 115 Emergency Center said that although the results were not as expected, the incident showed the particularly important role of extrahospital emergency and initial first aid.
In cases of cardiac arrest due to drowning, the "golden time" is only counted in minutes. If the victim is detected early and given proper cardiopulmonary resuscitation right from the first minutes, the chance of survival will increase significantly.
From the above reality, Khanh Hoa 115 Emergency Center recommends that people proactively equip themselves with basic first aid knowledge and skills; when an incident occurs, they need to remain calm and call 115 immediately; closely coordinate with medical forces to improve the chances of saving victims in critical situations.
