A day in the life of Covid-19 taxi-ambulances

A fleet of ambulances operated by Mai Linh Taxi Group has worked hard to transport Covid-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City.

A team of a special taxi-ambulance fleet that transport Covid-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City

For the past two weeks, 52-year-old Nguyen Duc Dung, a taxi driver at Mai Linh Taxi Group, 24-year-old Nguyen Minh Hoang, a student at Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University and 34-year-old Vu Dinh Danh, a nurse at People's Hospital 115 have stayed at a school in Nha Be District to work in a special taxi-ambulance fleet for Covid-19 patients.

As soon as they received a call about a worsening Covid-19 patient, the group quickly changed clothes and took the equipment into the car. After arriving, Dung disinfected the car while Hoang and Danh went in to assess and carry the patient to the vehicle.

"Can you breathe?" Hoang asked. Seeing that the patient couldn't speak properly, Hoang called Danh. "Please help me bring him to the vehicle and put him on a ventilator."

A patient is put on ventilator on the taxi-ambulance

Via 115 Emergency Centre, they knew that Nha Be District Hospital still had room for patients. Hoang and Danh monitored the patient's health on the way and tried to reassure him.

But as they reached Nha Be Hospital, they were told that new patients had just been admitted in and the hospital ran out of beds. They made other calls and switched to Hospital 115. However, the hospital was also crowded with other taxis and ambulances. They turned to Trung Vuong Hospital which also ran out of beds. Luckily, the patient's condition was stable.

Many hospitals are running out of beds for Covid-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City

Finally, they were told that Field Hospital 6 in Thu Duc still had beds and successfully sent the patient to the hospital after four hours on the road.

"This is the most time-consuming trip yet for our group. Everyone is tired but we’re just happy that the patient can go to the hospital and get treated. That's our motivation," Dung said. "I feel proud to be able to help. Many other groups are also working tirelessly to take patients to hospital. We'll work every day until the outbreak is controlled."

According to Dung, some days, they transport four to five patients from dawn until dusk and didn't have enough time to eat. The marks from wearing their face masks and protective suits for too long can easily be seen on their bodies.

The patient is finally admitted to Field Hospital 6

Danh said, "I haven't gone home to see my wife and children the past two weeks. I don't even dare to call them because I don't want to see my children crying. I hope the outbreak will be controlled soon."

Hoang said their group had helped bring 20 patients to the hospitals but he still felt regret about one case in particular.

"It was our second case and it was dark when we received the call. The family said they had called for hours but didn't get any ambulances to turn up. We contacted the 115 emergency centre for any vacancies and moved immediately after we were told that a hospital still had beds. But when we arrived, the patient had died," Hoang said.

Nurse Vu Dinh Danh from People's Hospital 115

The taxi-ambulance group is a part of the project arranged by the municipal Department of Health and Mai Linh Taxi Group to convert 200 taxis into ambulances. Mai Linh Group said 80 taxis had been fully equipped with ventilators and medical staff.