A number of youths in Ho Chi Minh City are taking part in a volunteer project which aims to help patients at overcrowded hospitals.

The project kicked off on a trial run at Cho Ray Hospital, one of the city’s busiest hospitals, which receives a large number of patients from other provinces.

Only a few days after the invitation to the project was posted online, some 300 volunteers registered to join. However, they could only begin working after attending several training programs and a two-week trial.

The volunteers are stationed at several instruction desks placed in common areas as well as in examining rooms, ready to offer help to patients.

As soon as a patient approaches, Van Trang, Ngoc Trinh and Minh Hoang, pharmaceutical students of Nguyen Tat Thanh University, waste no time in asking them if they need any help. Trinh said that 13 of their friends will also join the project.

Their job includes providing instructions on how to complete the procedures, getting order numbers, guiding patients to examining rooms, and helping elderly patients to the rooms. The job seems simple but is no easy task when done for five hours a day each weekday, particularly as the volunteers must stand in the packed, stuffy halls and be on the move at all times.

There are times when the volunteers can’t even stop to have a sip of water. Trang said that in her first days, some patients even scolded her for making some mistakes.

“The volunteers have been such a great help. I can’t read, even numbers, and I would have to wait here much longer without their help,” said patient Pham Thi Tieng from southern Long An province.

“The project is designed to help relieve the hospitals’ pressure due to overcrowding as well as cut patients’ waiting time,” said Tran Ba Cuong, director of HCMC Youth Social Work Center, which initiates the project.

Though the project is in its piloting phase, the volunteers are properly trained by the hospital staff, who agree that the volunteers have helped them considerably.

Apart from guiding outpatients, the project also aims to provide psychological counseling to critically ill patients and help with ensuring the hospital’s hygiene and security. The volunteers also help transport patients from other provinces, seek accommodation for them, and bring music to patients to help cheer them up.

After the piloting phase is finished, the project will officially kick off at a number of local hospitals in 2014. The project initiator also hopes to attract partnership and funding as the project will expand its scale when run officially.