Another medical team leaves Shanghai for Wuhan
A team of 148 doctors and nurses prepares to leave Shanghai for Wuhan on Tuesday.
Another team of doctors and nurses left Shanghai for Wuhan on Tuesday. The 148-member group will provide additional support to containment and treatment efforts at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
This is the third such group dispatched to Wuhan from Shanghai.
On Friday, a 136-member team of doctors and nurses left Shanghai to support Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital, a designated hospital for treating coronavirus patients.
A team of 50 nurses from 40 local hospitals also took a train to Wuhan on Monday night.
Dr Chen Erzhen, vice president of Ruijin Hospital and leader of the third team, said he feels pressure as the group's leader but he also has confidence in the professionalism and capabilities of Shanghai's medical personnel.
“I participated in the fight against SARS in 2003 and went to support Sichuan Province after the earthquake in Wenchuan in 2008. I learned a lot from these experiences,” he said. “As an intensive-care unit doctor, I believe Shanghai medical teams will cooperate well with colleagues in Wuhan to fulfil our mission.”
Three nurses from Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine also left Shanghai with the team.
Tang Huan, head nurse of Yueyang’s intensive-care unit, said she feels a responsibility to go to the frontline.
With 22 years of experience in the unit, Tang said she wants to devote her capabilities in the fight against the coronavirus and she did not hesitate to join the team.
Three nurses from Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine prepare to leave Shanghai.
Dr Guo Zhong from Shanghai No. 6 People’s Hospital said he's familiar with emergency situations. He was ordered to go to Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center to support the treatment of patients with human bird flu in 2013.
“The coronavirus spreads more quickly than SARS but its toxicity may be not as serious as SARS. The large number of critical patients is mainly because many of the infected are middle-aged or elderly people, who have great risk of complications and adverse reactions,” he said. “As a doctor involved in long-term treatment of critical respiratory diseases and respiratory support, I will make full use of my expertise.”
Dr Guo Zhong from Shanghai No. 6 People's Hospital leaves Shanghai with the team.
