traumacenter

[RotBenz8888]

Which hospital(s), with trauma center and neurosurgery is located in Rama 9/Ratchada area or near?
In case of an accident, hopefully an ambulance will arrive sooner than later, where will they go?

[Sheryl]

Can't say where a rescue vehicle would take you. If you can, call an ambulance yourself from the hospital of your chouce.

If you have insurance, Bangkok Hospital is near and has the capavoties you mention.

If not then you want to go to a major govt hospital. Rajawithi and Ramathibodhi are probably the closest.

What you don't want is to be taken to a small substandard private hospital. Unfortunately some rescue vehicles get kick backs to do exactly that.

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[RotBenz8888]

Thanks for that answer,

 

You're right, the closest hospitals, like Rama 9 and Vejthani, don't seem to have any trauma facilities. So Bangkok hospital will be the choice for us. Will keep the their emergency number with me.

I wonder where an emergency vehicle will take you, if you're unable to call one from your own hospital. Perhaps they just take you the closest whatever hospital just to get their job done. If you're conscious, perhaps you can persuade them to take you where you wanna go, or they don't care, who knows. If you are unconscious, then you won't have any choice, unless you carry some badge and are lucky that the emergency vehicle even finds it, and are kind enough to take you to a specific hospital., which i doubt they will.

 

Someone with any experiences?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GettingBye]

I would take a cab when minutes can mean life or death.

 

No, I have no first hand experience here in BKK.

 

I have great respect for you actually planning ahead, I thought I was the only one to consider these things and have the family medical records all digitized and ready to hand to Trauma Team Staff.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by GettingBye

[Sheryl]

Unfortunately many of these emergency vehicles are unscrupulous and take people to almost dysfunctional small private hospitals that give them kick backs for doing so.

 

Some of those places survive almost entirely out of doing this, and are also known to stonewall requests to transfer to another hospital once the patient has been admitted.

 

You really want to call your own ambulance from the hospital of your choice (keep the number in your wallet) or take a taxi to it if at all possible.

[RotBenz8888]

12 hours ago, GettingBye said:

I would take a cab when minutes can mean life or death.

 

No, I have no first hand experience here in BKK.

 

I have great respect for you actually planning ahead, I thought I was the only one to consider these things and have the family medical records all digitized and ready to hand to Trauma Team Staff.

 

 

Many years back something happened to a relative of mine, 10y old. He was playing ice hockey, back then no one wore helmets. So he fell and hit his head, was unconscious for a moment, but seemed to recover, although headache and nausea. He went home, his mom put him to sleep, but he never woke up again. Probably a intracranial hematoma that slowly grew and killed him.

When i see my kids and their friends play like stuntmen, i can't help thinking about that incident, and what i would have done if they fell and hurt themselves badly. Perhaps i do as you suggested, take a cab or drive myself to Bangkok Hospital. As Sheryl pointed out, the emergency vehicles can take you anywhere they wish, and then waiting for them to arrive...will they arrive? We have all seen them stuck in the traffic jam, and frankly, they don't seem to be in a hurry.

 

[GettingBye]

What would be the most likely trauma emergencies?

Heart Attack resulting in heart stopping.

Drowning resulting in heart stopping.

Auto Accident resulting in profuse bleeding and shock.

Aneurism blocking blood flow.

 

8 minutes without rescue breathing and CPR and you are a vegetable or dead.

 

I have yet to see an AED in any restaurant or hotel. 

I have yet to see a Thai that knows how to perform CPR.

I think most ambulance drivers here are drivers and not paramedics.

 

In each of these events, the sooner you can get to a hospital the better. A taxi driver with the promise of a 1,000 baht fare is going to get to a hospital faster than an ambulance based on my observations.

 

The single concern that I have in a sedan style taxi is no room for a backboard in the event of a C-Spine injury from auto accident or swimming pool accident. I have been on the scene of motorbike accidents in the first seconds and unresponsive victims are moved around with zero understanding they likely suffered blunt trauma to their C-Spine. 

 

A large taxi or hotel shuttle van that allows the victim to be stabilized in a supine position would be my go-to choices and both vehicles are large enough to allow you to continue CPR enroute. 

 

Asking your hotel if they have an AED and personally verifying its location and battery life is a good practice.

Asking if your hotel has a backboard or looking around and thinking of creative alternatives. 

Using towels to stabilize the head and neck.

Grabbing one of the front desk staff to go with you to the hospital to work as interpreter.

These are all things that can be done as preparation.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2019 by GettingBye

[GettingBye]

Another possibility would be an allergic reaction to peanuts or an insect sting resulting in anaphylactic shock. 

 

Like the other risks mentioned above, emergency medical response is time critical.

 

The only advantage here is that you likely are already aware of family member allergies and carry two EPI-pens with you in the event of exposure.

 

[RotBenz8888]

Asking about trauma center, i meant a team on stand by that deals with traumatic injuries, incl neurosurgeons, thoracic surgeons, orthopedic surgeons.  While an emergency department is something i hope most hospitals has.

 

I keep basic first aid kits in my car and at home, contains bandages distilled water, antihistamines, painkillers etc. Not much, but at least try to something, like stop bleeding.

 

 

[GettingBye]

I just witnessed another motorbike vs taxi accident last night. The missus was riding pillion and was laying unconscious on the roadway in a supine position. The husband approached her from her legs and grabbed her by the arms and raised/ dragged her into a sitting position with her head flopping around loosely. Two other motorbike riders then started manhandling her as well with zero knowledge of C-Spine injuries. All the while she remained unresponsive with eyes closed but her chest was moving so she had open airway and no penetrating fractures or external bleeding. At that point, I stepped back because the husband had become quite angry at the taxi driver and everyone else in the immediate vicinity.

 

My point is the longer a trauma victim remains on location, the greater the risk someone with zero medical knowledge is likely to approach and create additional complications.

 

I was later informed that Thailand does not have an EMS system with Paramedics or EMTs that respond to emergencies and the concept is not understood. 

[GettingBye]

7 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Asking about trauma center, i meant a team on stand by that deals with traumatic injuries, incl neurosurgeons, thoracic surgeons, orthopedic surgeons.  While an emergency department is something i hope most hospitals has.

 

I keep basic first aid kits in my car and at home, contains bandages distilled water, antihistamines, painkillers etc. Not much, but at least try to something, like stop bleeding.

 

 

 

Not trying to be a wiseguy but the first step is getting that patient to the Trauma Specialists quickly. 

 

If you live here then one suggestion would be to find a training manual for Emergency Care or Paramedic/ EMT that would provide you basic instruction on how to perform CPR, how to stabilize the patient and make an initial assessment that you can relay to a trauma department. That knowledge is several steps more advanced than the First Aid Kit you describe. 

 

My experience is mostly remote wilderness/ backcountry medicine and I find it applies quite well to urban settings in most 3rd world destinations where an EMS system does not exist. (Apology for lack of PC).