They came. They saw. They learned.

A delegation from the highest echelon of the Vietnamese medical community visited Whidbey General Hospital and the I-COM emergency dispatch center in Oak Harbor Thursday.

The visitors were escorted by Whidbey’s EMS medical program director, Dr. Paul Zaveruha, who explained that Vietnam wants to copy the island’s emergency care system because it’s a model operation.

“In Hanoi and other large cities, police, fire trucks and ambulances are dispatched independently,” Zaveruha said. “It can lead to confusion and doesn’t provide the highest level of service to their citizens.”

The delegates — three men, three women — included directors from the country’s Ministry of Health, Vietnam’s largest hospital and departments of preventative medicine in Hanoi and the former capital of Hué.

“These people are internationally recognized for being at the top of their profession,” Zaveruha said. “The process of exchanging ideas with foreign medical professionals has real value, for us and for them.”

For example, Dr. Le Anh Tuan, director of the Hanoi Health Service, is an acclaimed authority on avian flu.

“If and when a case of bird flu shows up on the island, I’ll be able to pick up the phone and consult with a man who is dealing with the problem right now,” Zaveruha noted. “I suspect we’ll be reaching out to him someday.”

Vietnam, about the same size as New Mexico, has 84 million people. Though their medical infrastructure lags behind the U.S. and Europe, they are determined to catch up.

During Zaveruha’s travels to Vietnam, he was amazed at what their citizens can do with minimal resources.

“They are hard-working, committed and intelligent,” he said. “And, though it was a surprise to some of my colleagues, very friendly to Americans.”

The first overture for an exchange was initiated by Harborview Medical Center’s Dr. Charles Mock in 2002. A team traveled to Hanoi to examine their dispatch problems and a group of lower-level technicians came here.

There have been five such visits since, each involving a group from a higher level of Vietnam’s medical hierarchy.

It makes sense to visit Seattle, but why Whidbey Island?

“Over time, they realized a rural setting was more attuned to their needs,” Zaveruha said. “They could go anywhere, but they’re here because they appreciate our outstanding EMS response system.”

After 911 supervisor Alice Johnson walked the delegation through the advanced dispatch procedure, Dr. Tran Huong was impressed.

“The connection between law enforcement, fire response and emergency services is well-coordinated,” Huong said.

“You are clearly well-equipped for covering a small population; the software used is very advanced. We have a great deal of work to do when we return to Vietnam,” she said.

She added that people she’s met here “have been very kind, open and hospitable. It’s almost like we are at home.”

During their week in Washington, the group watched paramedics deal with a traumatic injury event and toured the Seattle Fire Department’s alarm center and EMS response team headquarters before heading to Whidbey.

The main goal was to find out how American principles of injury prevention, response and treatment can be transferred to Vietnam.

The visit to Whidbey also include a stop at another model of success.

At the delegation’s request, the visitors stopped for lunch at McDonald’s between visits to the hospital and I-COM.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or e-mail jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com.