SHANGHAI TEAMS BUSY AIDING BATTLE IN WUHAN

Extra efforts made in outbreak epicenter

Editors' note: A total of 220 teams comprising more than 32,000 medical workers had arrived in Hubei province from across the country by Monday. China Daily chronicles their work in a series of interviews with the doctors and nurses.

Scores of doctors and nurses from Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai are helping in the fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, the contagion's epicenter.

A list of names of the 135 medical workers due to be sent by the hospital to the stricken city were issued on Feb 9. The previous evening, the number of applicants had exceeded the total places available in just two hours.

Xue Kai, a doctor from the hospital's Hematology Department, joined the contingent directly when it left for the airport after being given last-minute approval, becoming the 136th member of the team.

The previous evening, his services had been declined after the hospital learned that his wife is due to give birth this month.

Xue said: "I'm so sorry I cannot be present at the birth of my daughter, but I'm sure she'll understand my decision when she grows up. We will name her when I return to Shanghai after we have won the battle against the virus."

A total of 350 medical workers from Shanghai flew to Wuhan on Feb 9 and began their work at local hospitals the next day.

The team from Ruijin Hospital, whose youngest member is a 23-year-old nurse, is treating critically ill patients at the Guanggu branch of Tongji Hospital in Wuhan. A 214-member team from Shanghai Huashan Hospital, with an average age of 32, is caring for patients in intensive care units at the same hospital. More than half the members of this team were born in the 1990s.

Ning Guang, president of Ruijin Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, said, "It doesn't mean that these young medical workers are not concerned about their own safety, but we are often dubbed 'angels in white' and we need to live up to our name."

Xu Shikun, a 25-year-old nurse, was among the first group of Shanghai medical workers to go to Wuhan, leaving home on Jan 24, Lunar New Year's Eve－traditionally a time for family reunions.

"When we take off our white gowns, we're the children of our parents and the parents of our children. But when we put the gowns on, we need to confront the virus directly and safeguard other people's health," Xu said.

Those from Shanghai who volunteered to go to Wuhan include a nurse who had planned to celebrate her child turning 1, but was unable to do so, and another nurse who postponed her wedding.

Many netizens have praised such workers, who have left their families at home as they join the front-line fight against the virus.

On Feb 11, the Shanghai teams in Wuhan received an anonymous letter of gratitude from local residents.

The letter read: "We'll always keep in our hearts the fact that you came to support Wuhan and are risking your lives to protect ours. We have seen that love and hope is spreading faster than the virus."

Xu, who works at Shanghai East Hospital, said, "Many people are referring to us as heroes on the internet, but actually we're just doing our job."

By Wednesday, around 2,100 Shanghai medical professionals specializing in critical medicine, respiration, infectious diseases and nursing had arrived in Hubei to provide support. Two days earlier, 19,900 medical workers from across the country arrived in the province.

After her first eight hours on duty tending to critically ill patients at Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Xu wrote a letter to her father, stating: "Who isn't afraid of getting infected by the virus? But we have to go to the front-line of this battle. If we don't, who will?"

Immediately after arriving in Wuhan, she and some of her colleagues started work after midnight.

Xu said there is high demand among the team members for protective clothing, and she is regularly taking antibacterial drugs.

"We will be able to save as many lives as possible only when we ourselves stay healthy," she said.

Zhang Lilian, another nurse who was among the first group of Shanghai medical workers sent to Wuhan, said that when she initially entered the wards, she felt "overwhelmingly frightened".

"A colleague and I held each other's hands when we walked into the wards after changing into protective suits. We knew we were in central Wuhan and were the focus of world attention," said Zhang, who works in Shanghai at Jinshan District Hospital Combining Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine.

"We looked at each other and saw tears. The tears were a mixture of fear, nervousness and excitement ...We had no option but to pluck up courage and do our work to save lives," she said.

Before leaving for Wuhan on Feb 9, doctors and nurses from Huashan Hospital lined up in the lobby to have their hair cut. Most men had their heads shaved and women's long hair was cut short.

Zhang Yeqi, a male nurse from the hospital, said, "Shorter hair is more convenient for us as we need to don protective clothing when working."

Tough tasks

Many front-line medical workers said a big challenge is refraining from eating, drinking and visiting the restroom for eight to 10 hours during their shifts.

"It takes 20 to 30 minutes to put on a protective suit and if we take it off to go to the restroom, we need to put on another one. We don't want to waste them, as there have been many reports that such supplies are running short," Xu said.

Members of the medical contingent that left Shanghai on Feb 9 took diapers with them.

Ying Yuhong, a nurse from the city who is working in Wuhan, said it was the first time she had taken blood from patients while wearing goggles, but her vision had been impaired by her own breath.

"That made me largely dependent on using a finger to locate the most appropriate blood vessel. The two layers of disposable gloves also made the job harder, but most patients cooperated very well," she said.

Xin Haiguang, from Ruijin Hospital's Infectious Disease Department, said his team of doctors and nurses are going the "extra mile" in their work in Wuhan, as all 26 patients they are responsible for are in critical condition.

"Many of the patients are elderly and have medical complications, including kidney failure, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and most are finding it difficult to breathe," said Xin, who was among the Chinese doctors sent to Africa to battle the Ebola outbreak five years ago.

"Most patients in the wards cannot take care of themselves and depend on nurses for eating and drinking. It is really a highly intensive workload," he said.

Many doctors and nurses said they have gained the most inspiration from patients whose conditions have improved.

Wei Xiao, a native of Wuhan who works for a local construction company, said: "The city seems to have pressed the pause button on life for the time being. When it presses the play button again, we Wuhan people will invite all those who provided help, and their families, to enjoy the beauty of our city, the Yangtze River, cherry blossom and our delicious food."

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn