Centuries-Old Experiences With 21st Century Technology

The ceremony began at noon on Tuesday at the State Health Care Centre (ÁEK); the memorial plaque of Prof. Dr. László Vámos, retired major general and honorary lifetime chairman of the Hungarian Military and Disaster Medicine Association was unveiled by Minister of Defence Dr. Imre Szekeres. MoD Deputy Chief of Staff Lt.Gen. (eng.) János Mikita laid a wreath on the marble plaque dedicated four years after the death of the professor.

The ceremony was followed by the personnel assembly held on the occasion of the day of the health care employees of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Dr. Imre Szekeres, Lt.Gen. János Mikita, and the ’great old one’ of Hungarian military health care, retired lieutenant general Dr. László Svéd were also present at the event in Stefánia Palace.

As it was mentioned at the ceremony, this day is celebrated for three reasons, since they do not only remember Ignác Semmelweis, the ‘saviour of mothers’, but also those Hungarian health care employees who are the members of a special, at the same time a very important service of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Even today, many of these people work in war zones and are ready to help their comrades in trouble. Moreover, the second anniversary of the establishment of the MoD State Health Care Centre is also celebrated on this day.

In her welcome speech Lt.Col. Ildikó Nagy, the Head of the Mental Hygiene Department of the Preventive Directorate of MoD Dr. Radó György Health Care Centre recalled the life of Ignác Semmelweis, born 191 years ago, on July 1, 1815 in a house in the Tabán, Budapest, that is today a museum of medical history bearing his name. He received his medical doctor’s degree on May 21, 1844, and a year and a half later, he was given an assistant teacher position in Vienna’s general hospital.

In the overcrowded wards childbed fever took victims every day. Most of the doctors just acknowledged the extremely high number of deaths, saying they were unable to do anything, but Semmelweis did not accept this: he kept searching and investigating the cause of the disease. A tragic event – the forensic medicine teacher of the university hurt his hand during an autopsy and soon died of septicaemia – made him realize that the disease of the deceased teacher and that of hundreds of women who had just given birth was the same.

He immediately ordered hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions to sterilize the hands, which resulted in a drop in the childbed fever cases in just a few weeks. He never lost his enthusiasm and publicized how he had discovered the disease and the preventive measures elaborated by him, and also taught the medical students and his colleagues, then extended these measures to surgery. Many followed his method, but there were at least as many who were indifferent and even ridiculed him.

On the anniversary of Ignác Semmelweis’s birthday, military health care, and the health care organization serving the Hungarian Defence Forces predominantly and providing health care for the professional and contracted personnel have to be mentioned specifically. In addition to that, the organization also participates in the international commitments of the Hungarian Defence Forces – said the lieutenant colonel in her address. She also told the audience that beyond the areas of preventive health care, healing, rehabilitation, and emergency health care, those working in military health care also take a considerable share of health care in Allied commitments and missions. Currently there are some fifty health care experts serving all over the world, from Kosovo to the Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan.

– We have established the MoD’s NATO-compliant military health care centre of excellence, which can further improve the reputation of Hungarian military health care following the necessary accreditation procedure. For the military service of Bundeswehr, our specialists are serving in military hospitals in theatres of operations. The Preventive Health Care Laboratory implements its bacteriological, epidemical, and other health care tasks in operational areas. With the Mobile Biological Laboratory we have created another unique capacity – listed Lt.Col. Ildikó Nagy, addig: they also have significant achievements in research in the field of pathophysiology, toxicology, and flight surgery.

The MoD State Health Care Centre was established two years ago on July 1, 2007, with the merger of four reputable hospitals. As a priority hospital often referred to as the ’flagship’ of the health care reform program of the Hungarian government, it has become one of the most important health care institution in the country, operating in all medical areas but pediatrics. In seven locations there are nearly three thousand highly qualified professionals who treat and heal out-patients, in-patients, or those who need rehabilitation. In the past two years, the State Health Care Centre, merging the expertise of the predecessor institutions with 21st century infrastructure and logistics background, has proven its viability.

One of the strengths of the special nature of the institute is providing full-scale health care for traumatology and neurotraumatology cases and burns, which is also a priority area in military and disaster-related health care. In addition to providing health care for in- and out-patients, there are also high standard educational, scientific and research activities in ÁEK: there are nearly a hundred physicians with scientific qualifications working in the institute, who are also the members and leaders of leading national medical associations.

– The fact that the State Health Care Centre has developed and introduced its quality management system in just one and a half years, which is unique even at Central European level, guarantees the quality of the activity of ÁEK – Lt.Col. Ildikó Nagy said at the end of her speech.

The personnel assembly continued with the awarding of ministerial recognitions and rewards, and ended with the performance of the artists of the Honvéd Ensemble.