The information was shared by Dr. Nguyen Duy Long, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City 115 Emergency Center, at the 2026 Scientific and Technical Conference of Binh Chanh General Hospital, held on July 17 under the theme "Advancing Specialized Healthcare – Connecting Communities."
According to Dr. Nguyen Duy Long, the Ho Chi Minh City 115 Emergency Call Center receives an average of 1,500 calls each day. However, only about 10 percent, or roughly 150 cases, require actual emergency medical dispatch. The remaining calls are primarily for medical consultation, accidental dialing, or prank calls.
Ho Chi Minh City currently operates a network of 72 public and private satellite emergency stations. In urban areas, ambulances reach patients in an average of 15 minutes. However, in outlying areas such as Can Gio, Dau Tieng, and Ho Tram, response times may be extended by an additional 15 to 30 minutes or even longer.
Delayed access to emergency care can cost patients their critical 'golden hour.' A person in cardiac arrest should receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation within four minutes. A patient suffering an acute myocardial infarction should undergo coronary intervention within about 90 minutes, while an ischemic stroke patient should receive thrombolytic therapy within the first 4.5 hours, Dr. Nguyen Duy Long said.
He added that the city is developing a mobile emergency response application. Through the app, residents will be able to interact directly with the emergency system in a manner similar to ride-hailing platforms, allowing them to track the real-time location of an ambulance, view its estimated arrival time, and connect directly with physicians en route or other medical professionals for first-aid guidance before the ambulance arrives.
In addition, the city is continuing to expand its pre-hospital emergency care network to remote areas, increase the number of emergency response and dispatch points, and gradually narrow disparities in access to emergency medical services between urban and rural communities.
Addressing the conference, Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that Binh Chanh General Hospital has achieved notable accomplishments not only in medical examination and treatment but also in medical education, scientific research, and hospital governance innovation.
These achievements have made significant contributions to the overall development of Ho Chi Minh City's healthcare sector while demonstrating the growing capacity of grassroots hospitals to adopt advanced medical technologies and deliver high-quality community healthcare services.
The conference's focus on the role of primary healthcare and the linkage between hospitals and the community is well aligned with the current development strategy of the healthcare sector. While hospitals were once evaluated primarily based on their bed capacity or the number of medical procedures they performed, a modern hospital today should also be assessed by its scientific research capacity, its ability to generate new knowledge, its level of innovation, and its contributions to the overall advancement of the healthcare system, Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau emphasized.
Master of Science, Specialist Level II, Dr. Vo Ngoc Cuong, Director of Binh Chanh General Hospital, said the hospital's 2026 Scientific and Technical Conference provides an opportunity for healthcare experts and medical professionals to exchange experience, update their knowledge, and promote practical solutions to improve public healthcare.
Featuring two plenary sessions and a series of specialized sessions, the conference focused on comprehensive management strategies for chronic diseases, the latest clinical guidelines issued by international health organizations, healthcare workforce planning based on actual workloads, and the application of digital technologies. Participants also discussed advances in specialized surgery, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, and perioperative nutritional interventions, while highlighting the relationship between oral diseases and overall health to deliver more comprehensive treatment solutions for patients.
