VietNamNet Bridge - Hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City worked overtime during the first three days of Tet to cope with the number of patients reporting sick.

Casualties from traffic accidents, digestive troubles and also cardiovascular illnesses were admitted during this time in Trauma and Orthopaedic hospitals in HCM City.

Van Uc C, 38, from Dalat claimed he had drunk two bottles of beer earlier with friends and was admitted with a broken right leg after crashing into another motorbike. Another patient Le Van P, 70, from District 12 fell down after drinking wine and had to wait in queue for nearly three hours before he was attended to in the hospital.

Doctor Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong said the hospital received 189 cases on February 2, of which 69 cases were of traffic accidents. On February 3, the hospital received 135 cases of which 78 cases were of traffic accidents and on February 4, 206 cases were reported of which 107 cases were traffic accident cases.

Trung Vuong Hospital reported 193 hospitalized cases on February 3, of which two cases were of severe concussion after a fall, whereas Nhan Dan 115 Hospital reported being overcrowded with patients during the Tet holiday season.

Doctor Tran Van Song said that on February 5 alone, the hospital received nearly 200 emergency cases. Many patients were hospitalized due to digestive and cerebral vascular trouble. Cases of drunken driving also saw an increase this year.

The hospital received 154 patients on February 3, of which 40 cases were from traffic accidents. 198 patients were admitted the next day of which 42 cases were traffic accident cases. Doctor Song said that majority of the cases were from traffic accidents or drunken driving.

According to hospitals in HCM City, from February 2 – 3, they received 6,821 patients, an increase in number by 52% compared to Lunar New Year 2010. The number of traffic accident cases also showed an increase by 13% compared to the same period last year.

Among those involved in traffic accidents, 66 were found not wearing helmets. 75 cases were reported to have had surgery for brain injury and 8 people are said to have died, an increase of four times the number compared to the same period last year.

During the first three days of Tet, Cho Ray Hospital reported two deaths and 353 cases of traffic accidents, an increase of 100 cases compared to the same period last year.

Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi received 530 drunken driving accident cases mostly by those not wearing helmets.

Source: SGGP