An ambulance boat that the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AusCham) gave to Phung Hiep District, Hau Giang Province, southern Vietnam in August last year has yet to be put to use.

Dong Hoang Tho, director of the Phung Hiep Medical Center, on Wednesday said that the boat has been left to sit due to the fact that there is currently no captain, though someone has just been appointed to the position and is now enrolled in a ship piloting course.

Tho added the ambulance boat is expected to be used during the flooding season.

AusCham in August handed over the ambulance boat to the Phung Hiep People’s Committee in order to help transport patients, especially those living in hard-to-reach neighborhoods, to safety.

The boat worth VND700 million (US$29,668) is 5.4 meters long and can carry four people at a time.

It is Hau Giang’s first ambulance boat.

Tran Khong Dan, vice-chairman of the Phung Hiep People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the boat has not needed to be used yet because most patients in need of emergency care have been accessible by ambulance. 

Dan also noted that there is currently no captain for the boat.

The district plans to put the ambulance boat to use soon, Dan added.

Regarding the possibility of giving the ambulance boat to another locality in need of the vehicle, Ho Thu Anh, vice-chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Hau Giang, said the province will discuss the idea with the district authorities.

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