Sino-German mobile hospital helped thousands
Print Edition
THE disastrous Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 touched hearts around the world, with many countries offering aid to China. Germany was one of them.
On May 26, the Chinese-German Red Cross Mobile Hospital, a joint project of the Chinese and German Red Cross organizations, started operation.
The supplies and materials for the mobile hospital were delivered by cargo plane with 11 professionals sent by the German Red Cross.
It was up and running within 52 hours thanks to the German experts and the medical teams from Shanghai’s Huashan Hospital, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University as well as local medics and volunteers.
Consisting of 25 tents and 120 beds, it provided most of the essential medical facilities, such as an emergency room, an X-ray theater, a laboratory, a pharmacy and departments of internal medicine and surgery. The hospital could be moved anywhere as needed.
The facilities included high-tech machines, such as an oxygen generator which replaced traditional oxygen bottles, transforming air to oxygen directly and adjusting the concentration.
Ding Qiang, president of the Huashan Hospital, says the mobile hospital treated more than 70,000 people and was like a “Noah’s Ark” in the disaster area.
Huashan Hospital’s Li Yanfei, who worked at the mobile operation, recalls some details of the medics she worked with.
After working at the hospital for several days, a young man who was sent there coordinating disaster relief issues told them that his hometown was Shifang, an area which was badly hit by the quake.
Although he really wanted to return home to see his family, he decided to stay.
And a doctor from the Dujiangyan People’s Hospital jumped up from his chair every time there was a vehicle passing by.
He said any shake reminded him of the afternoon when he lost his house and a family member.
Despite that, he set aside his own grief and continued treating patients.
Several college students from Chengdu volunteered to be translators to help the medics communicate with the German experts, and each single trip took them nearly two hours.
Li says for those at the scene, these are not only a few sentences on paper but a history they all experienced and are proud of.
One touching story from the hospital’s operation is about the first baby delivered there.
When the mother was sent to the hospital, her amniotic fluid was flowing out and she required a Caesarean.
Due to the shortage of blood, the medics lined up outside the operating room and were ready to donate blood at any time. Her son was finally delivered safely, and his father named him Zhongde, which means “Chinese-German.”
Liao Shuyi from Huashan Hospital, who witnessed this incident, tells another part of the story. The surgeon performing the operation was a mother of a young girl. Before performing the C-section, she received a call from her daughter, saying she wanted to spend the next day — Children’s Day — with her mother.
The mobile hospital treated about 72,000 patients in the three months after the earthquake, forging strong bonds with the people of Sichuan.
Although a decade has passed, for all the medics who left their families and risked their lives to help in the earthquake-stricken area, this memory is unforgettable and the experiences live on strong in their lives.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
