First air-lift medical team withdraws from Lushan quake zone

Local people in Taiping township present a silk banner to the medical team of the General Hospital of the Chengdu Military Region of the PLA to show their gratitude.

The first medical team air-lifted to the Lushan quake zone withdrew from Taiping township in Lushan county, Sichuan province, in early June after more than 40 days of rescue work in the town.

The medical team, sent by the General Hospital of the Chengdu Military Region of the PLA, arrived in severely damaged Taiping by helicopter at about 3 pm, seven hours after the area was hit by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake on April 20.

During their stay in Taiping, the 25-member medical team treated 9,599 cases, admitted and treated 239 cases, performed 886 surgeries, and transported 32 critical patients to the General Hospital for treatment. None of the patients died or became disabled.

In order to provide the quake zone with long-term help after the medical team leaves, the General Hospital signed an agreement with the Taiping Township Health Center on the morning of May 1.

According to the agreement, the General Hospital would assist the Taiping Township Health Center in varies aspects, including medical management, personnel training, and technical and equipment support.

Rushing to help

The team members rushed to the victims as soon as they got off the helicopter. Hundreds of wounded people in the town were waiting for help as the roads to the outside had been cut off by the quake.

Thirty-five wounded people received proper treatment within an hour. Two severely injured victims were immediately sent to the General Hospital by helicopter.

In order to bring as much medicine and medical equipment as possible, the team members each carried one backpack for themselves, which they later gave to the patients and quake victims, as they found the locals were in need of more supplies.

After all the wounded in the temporary medical center were treated, the team members finally had time to take a nap on the cold, wet ground with their clothes on.

Tough situations

The medical team ran into a tough situation on the morning of April 21. Ran Xiaoli, a 28-year-old pregnant woman from Dahe village, was about to give birth, but the baby was in the wrong position, making a normal birth impossible.

"Our team wasn't able to deliver the baby without proper medical devices, and the road to Lushan People's Hospital was too far and too dangerous," said Yao Rong, political commissar of the General Hospital.

The medical team called a helicopter for help, while informing the General Hospital in Chengdu to prepare for treatment.

At 8:50 that morning, Yao and four team members carried the woman with a door plank to the temporary landing point in Taiping middle school. The rescue helicopter took off at 10:00 a.m.

The baby, later named "Li Xiangjun" by Yao, was born without issue at the General Hospital at 8:41 that night.

Another trouble came on Apr 23, when another pregnant woman was about to give birth and there was no time to send her to a hospital.

Sun, head nurse of the gynecology and obstetrics department, had to deliver the baby at the temporary medical center without obstetrical equipment.

The "quake baby" was born in the temporary delivery room 46 minutes later, under the lens of media reporters and the attention of local villagers.

"I have never delivered a baby under such poor conditions," Sun said after the delivery, "and I have never been as proud when I saw the newborn baby."