Abstract

In Vietnam, where Emergency Medical Service systems are often ineffective, bystanders play an essential role in prehospital care for traffic-injured victims. However, little is known about what bystanders do and what compels or hinders them from helping at the scene. This study employed a focused ethnographic approach, utilizing semi—structured, in-depth interviews with forty-eight traffic-injured patients and their families, followed by thematic analysis. The aim was to examine how Vietnamese bystanders respond to traffic crashes and navigate the competing interests and risks associated with helping strangers. There is a strong cultural expectation for them to help, based on morality (Đạo đức) and social connection (Tình nghĩa). The legal system obligates bystanders to help while excusing the other parties involved in the crash from the same duty, thus contributing to conflict at the crash scene. Bystanders can be better supported with information on basic first-aid training and revised Good Samaritan laws that build on traditional Vietnamese virtues of social connectedness rather than emphasising civic duty alone.

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