Ho Chi Minh City, 17 April 2017: Family Medical Practice and *9999 Emergency Medical Response were out in force at the third annual Red Bull Champion Dash in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7 on Sunday.

With three ambulance units on hand, three medical tents in operation, and a staff of two doctors and six nurses, competitors were in safe hands as they navigated the 21-obstacle, 7-km track in Phu My Hung. All sports contain some elements of risk and danger, so obstacle course racing organizers are faced with a challenging task in building extreme challenges while factoring in strategies to minimize those elements into the course. Sports injuries are inevitable, and the invaluable assistance of FMP’s *9999 emergency medical response crew to respond to the needs of the 4,000+ attendees effectively and professionally ensured reliable attention was available to all those in need.

An unfortunate few participants requiring a higher level of treatment were transferred safely and efficiently to hospital in the *9999 ambulances on site. These state-of-the-art vehicles are able to sustain life for up to 72 hours, and are the most modern in the nation.

The common risks faced by athletes to which FMP were 100% prepared to handle:

•    Heat exhaustion and dehydration
•    Destabilization of bones and joints
•    Trauma
•    Cuts, abrasions, sprains and bruises
•    Personal past history of unknown medical conditions

Speaking from the site, Dr. Bui Nghia Thinh, FMP’s Emergency Medical Director said: “We have been in several events like this in the past, but these kinds of obstacle courses bring unique challenges and some injuries are just inevitable. It’s a high-risk day, even though all the competitors are young and fit – and so we spent a lot of time ensuring that we were well-prepared to manage the various types of incidents that we expected to see here. We set up a system that guaranteed that there was no point on the course that was more than five minutes away from a first responder, and that no matter where an accident happened, we were always able to get them to a hospital in no more than ten minutes if we needed to.”

Champion Dash General Director Russel Johnson – himself a former firefighter and first responder in Canada – was effusive in his praise for the work that the *9999 team were able to offer, saying: “We have 4,000 people out there crawling, climbing, carrying, swinging, challenging themselves mentally and physically, and putting people in positions where they are learning to be comfortable accepting challenges that require team and solo problem-solving skills. It intrinsically has its dangers as a sport. We do our best to put together an incredible race by creating something that is fantastically crazy but is as safe as we can make it. This is the second time we have worked with FMP. We were extremely impressed with their organization, structure and efficiency. One of biggest challenges in Vietnam is the lack of in-field technical support. *9999’s all-new and fully-equipped ambulances, superb multi-lingual emergency medical team, and quick response in the field is what sets them apart. FMP takes emergency medical response with EMR *9999 to the next level that is needed in Vietnam. I can’t thank Family Medical Practice and EMR *9999 enough for how comfortable I am with the way this has all been handled.”

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Family Medical Practice, the first foreign-operated, multi-disciplinary primary medical health care provider in Vietnam, opened in Hanoi in 1994 and owns and operates five modern clinics based in Hanoi, Danang and HCMC. FMP is the only private medical provider in Vietnam with such national coverage. All Family Medical Practice clinics have fully-equipped ambulances described as “state-of-the-art emergency medical units” on standby 24 hours a day.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Susan Wu on susan.wu@vietnammedicalpractice.com

Ms. Nhu Dang on marketing@ vietnammedicalpractice.com

Ms. Giang Vu on mktg.assistant@vietnammedicalpractice.com