Doctors brave hardships to aid quake victims
Print Edition
In a rapid response reminiscent of disaster relief following the deadly 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, Minhang doctors were quickly mobilized this month to aid quake-stricken Ludian County in neighboring Yunnan Province.
On August 3, an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale hit the remote mountainous area, killing more than 600 people and injuring more than 3,100.
Shanghai No. 5 People’s Hospital in Minhang, as a hospital already paired with the healthcare system in Yunnan, had a medical team working in Yunnan’s Songming County since June. On the day of the quake, Dr Wu Junguo, leader of the team, was dispatched to the devastated scene, along with three other doctors and a nurse.
“We reached Ludian at midday on August 4, accompanied by a medical team of the armed police,” said Wu. “We had to walk the last 25 kilometers because the road was destroyed.”
Tough conditions
Wu’s team went to Hongshiyan Village. Nearby, an unstable “barrier lake” formed by the earthquake threatened to flood the village at any time.
Hongshiyan lay in ruins, Wu said. The search for survivors was intense. Two injured victims were found in the rubble of a house on the first day the team arrived.
Wu, an orthopedic physician, goes far beyond his medical specialty at the scene of natural disaster. He treated more than 20 people a day, suffering everything from bruises and diarrhea to broken bones and shock.
“We cannot do operations here,” said Wu. “The hygienic conditions are too poor and the risk of infection is high. We have to use stretchers to transport the badly injured out.”
Wu said he and the team will stay in the earthquake zone as long as people there still need medical help.
“We just hope that the survivors of this earthquake will be able to emerge from this terrible time as soon as possible,” he said.
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