U.S., Vietnam host Asia-Pacific military nursing symposium

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kerry Jackson
  • 13th Air Force Public Affairs
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFNS) --  The United States and Vietnam co-hosted more than 200 nurses from 14 countries during the 3rd Annual Asia-Pacific Military Nursing Symposium in Hanoi, Vietnam Aug 3 through 7.

The five-day conference, hosted by officials from the U.S. Pacific Command and the Vietnam People's Army, focused on nursing education, career development, global pandemic preparedness and disaster management. The symposium was designed to help nurses in senior leadership positions share ideas and practices in order to build relations between Asia-Pacific countries.

"The symposium fostered an informative, as well as collaborative, environment to share and acquire knowledge from our international colleagues," said Brig. Gen. Catherine Lutz, the U.S. Air National Guard assistant to the assistant surgeon general nursing services. "Although culturally we have many differences, we realize we have much in common. (The conference) provided an opportunity to showcase advances in nursing and promote global military nursing cooperation."

During the "Promoting Global Military Nursing Cooperation" themed symposium, the nurses were familiarized with the history of military nursing, and discussed various approaches to aeromedical evacuation and pandemic infectious diseases common to the Asia-Pacific region.

The nurses also had the opportunity to visit Vietnamese Military Hospital 103, which specializes in infectious diseases and provides care for military personnel and civilians in Vietnam. Hospital 103 is a recipient of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief, which authorizes up to $25 billion over five years to combat global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The number of countries participating in the nursing symposium doubled from last year. The 14 countries that participated in this year's symposium included: Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

The U.S. military sent 45 Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard medical personnel to participate in the symposium.

"(The symposium) was successful and was a very good opportunity to collaborate and network in the Asia-Pacific region," said Vietnam Senior Col. Vu Quoc Binh, the vice director of the military medical department for the People's Army of Vietnam. "It was well-coordinated between host [Vietnam] and co-host [United States] and was a special opportunity to familiarize Vietnamese nurses with an international symposium."

Previous Asia-Pacific nurses conferences were hosted in Hawaii in 2007 and the South Korea in 2008. The United States plans to co-host more nurse symposiums in the future with countries throughout the Asia-Pacific Region, according to Maj. Chung Lee, a 13th Air Force international health specialist, who planned and coordinated this year's symposium along-side representatives from the Vietnam Military Medical Department.

"I thoroughly enjoyed working alongside my Vietnamese counterparts," said Major Lee. "I gained invaluable experience and built many friendships. I look forward to working with other colleagues in the future."