GE Healthcare supports anesthesia education and training in Vietnam

The simulation training lab is the first-of-its-kind in Vietnam and GE Healthcare’s first supported project in the Asia Pacific.

The partnership includes $300,000 worth of equipment including anesthesia machines, patient monitors, ventilators and basic simulation equipment (ECG, invasive pressure and spontaneous respiration lung simulators), provided by GE Healthcare. In addition, the patient simulator and camera system were provided by Viet Medical. The equipment will be used to help better educate and train Vietnamese clinicians on safe anesthesia administration to improve patient care. In partnership with the VSA, GE Healthcare will also help to develop the curriculum and programme standards for the new simulation and training lab.

"We are very happy with the setting up of our modern, high-fidelity simulation lab, the first of its kind in Vietnam,” said Association Professor, PhD Cong Quyet Thang, chairman of the Vietnam Society of Anesthesiologists. “We highly appreciate the support of GE Healthcare and Viet Medical and look forward to training and building case scenarios with our anesthesia resident trainees and medical students, as well as collaborating on simulation training with sister anesthesiology societies throughout Southeast Asia."

The new simulation and training lab is in line with GE Healthcare’s commitment to capacity-building and investment into the local communities in which it operates in through advancing education and skills development of healthcare providers.

There is a strong need for more trained anesthesiologists in Vietnam. In Vietnam, there is one anesthesia provider per 134,434 people compared to neighbouring Singapore which has one anesthesia provider per 22,140 people and the Philippines which has one anesthesia provider per 40,875 people, according to a report of the VSA in 2014.

Currently, the VSA Simulation Training Lab for Anesthesia and Intensive Care is open for enrolment for VSA members and Viet Duc Hospital trainees, with eventual plans to train anesthesiology practitioners and trainees across Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

“GE Healthcare is committed to not only providing innovative technologies and machines for Vietnam, but also the education and training behind them to ensure healthcare providers are able to give the very best care to their patients,” said Nilesh Shah, general manager of Life Care Solutions for GE Healthcare Asia Pacific.

Shah continued, “Our work doesn’t end when we deliver a piece of medical equipment. By helping to ensure there are enough trained and qualified anesthesiologists in Vietnam, we are helping make quality healthcare more accessible to Vietnam’s 91 million people.”

Last week, GE Healthcare announced the launch of its new Carestation 600 Series in Vietnam, an affordable suite of anesthesia solutions, comprised of two machines, both of which balance user interface design with intelligent tools to help physicians prevent misuse and medical errors in the operating room. The Carestation 650 and Carestation 30 will be available for students and trainees to use at the new simulation and training center.

In 2003, GE Healthcare acquired Datex-Ohmeda, a leading manufacturer of anesthesia, respiratory and monitoring equipment. The current Carestation series anesthesia machines are the evolution of the legacy Datex-Ohmeda product portfolio.

GE Healthcare is a partner in supporting the Vietnamese government and healthcare providers to strengthen the healthcare system and train clinicians in the country. In March 2015, GE Healthcare provided a $250,000 education grant to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi to help develop and increase the skills of clinicians in the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit. In April 2015, GE Healthcare and the Vietnam National Heart Institute co-hosted a cardiac medical education seminar for 100 Vietnamese clinicians aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in Vietnam.

With its commitment to build a healthier community by improving access to quality products, GE Healthcare is providing transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care in Vietnam. Today, more than half of all clinics and hospitals in Vietnam have at least one device of GE medical technology.