Asia

Vietnam

Location

South-eastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos and Cambodia.

Crime rates are low, petty street crime is increasing in the larer cities. You should take sensible precautions. Exercise caution if travelling in border areas. Be vigilant for street theft particularly of spectacles, advisable to keep them around the neck on cord. Personal security, general travel, navigation, off road driving, hot weather injuries, personal hygiene, sanitation / sterilisation, clothing & equipment, emergency first aid, helicopter safety, cultures / customs.

Use bottled water only.

Low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and north-west.

Tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March).

Occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong River delta.

Minimal health facilities, so be sure to take your own medical supplies in with you. Avian influenza,bacterial diarrhoea, dengue fever, hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), hepatitis A, Japanese encephalitis, leptospirosis, malaria, meningitis, plague, poliio, rabies, typhoid fever.
Hospital: Bach Mai Medical Centre, Foreigner Admittance, Phuong Mai Street, Hanoi. Tel: 4-8522089

Logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and over-fishing threaten marine life populations; ground water contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialisation and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Some parts of Vietnam are fairly inaccessible. In others, widespread road construction makes driving hazardous. The standard of driving and vehicle maintenance is poor. Drive is erratic and dangerous.

Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT®) (5 days)
Centurion's flagship Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT®) course is for people who operate world wide, particularly in areas where there may be personal health or safety concerns. It is extremely effective for "frontline" organisations.

For more in-depth general information please download our Preparation and Training document.