Admitting fatal COVID-19 patients at affiliated hospitals, aiding hospitals in Wuhan to handle fatal cases, and establishing medical team to support the ICU wards of Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, the medical workers from Guangzhou Medical University (GMU), known as the “national team” in the respiratory discipline in China, have been fighting against COVID-19 at “three battlefields” in Guangzhou and Wuhan in recent days. 

The reporter learned that, in response to COVID-19 outbreak, the First Affiliated Hospital of GMU was selected as a provincial and municipal designated hospital and the Second Affiliated Hospital a municipal designated hospital. As of February 7, though the Respiratory Department of the First Affiliated Hospital had admitted 11 most fatal COVID-19 patients in Guangzhou, it still selected and sent 16 experienced medical professionals to aid hospitals in Wuhan. Meanwhile, the Second Affiliated Hospital has been ready for patient admission at any time, and has emptied wards in Panyu Hospital urgently for emergent cases.

The Third Affiliated Hospital, the Fifth Affiliated Hospital, and the Cancer Center of GMU have also taken preventive and control measures for emergency in view of their own strength, and selected competent medical workers to join the medical aid team to Wuhan.

Assemble again!

16 medical workers from GMU affiliated hospitals aid COVID-19 control efforts in Wuhan 

In the afternoon of February 7, the medical team from affiliated hospitals of GMU quickly assembled within about two hours upon receipt of the notice from the superiors. They were to join their counterparts in Wuhan’s Union Hospital (West Campus) to treat and save the lives of critical patients. GMU’s party secretary Ran Pixin, deputy party secretary Chen Xiaohui, vice president Huang Jianqing, and leaders of affiliated hospitals saw the medical team off at airport.

In response to the country’s call to aid the COVID-19 control efforts in Wuhan, GMU and its hospitals, following several previously sent medical aid teams, again mobilized a 16-member medical aid team to Wuhan, which was to take over the ICU wards of the Union Hospital (West Campus) there. The team members were encouraged to uphold the GMU spirit, the “devoted, pioneering, hardworking and gregarious”?Nanshan spirit, and the anti-SARS spirit at the critical moment. The CPC members were expected to play a leading role to unite, to battle and to win in this most dangerous and challenging time under the leadership of the temporary party branch on the frontline. One of the leaders told the team members to take care of themselves, “Your safety and health are fundamental guarantees to defeat the epidemic. We’ll wait for your victorious return safe and sound!”

As disclosed, the 16 team members were selected from four affiliated hospitals of GMU, namely associate chief physician Wen Deliang, associate chief physician Jiang Lingzhi, physician Chen Weixiao, supervising nurses Li Jiang and Wang Yuli from the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the Second Affiliated Hospital; associate chief physician Gao Yuanmei from Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, supervising nurse Bi Cicheng, and nurse practitioner Duan Yeying from the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the Third Affiliated Hospital; attending physician Fang Xiangming, physician Li Defu, supervising nurse He Huan, and nurse practitioner Feng Guoyong from Department of Respiratory Medicine of the Fifth Affiliated Hospital; associate chief physician Wei Yi’er, attending physician Li Shicheng, supervising nurse Huang Ruliang, and nurse practitioner Wang Jingcheng from the Department of Critical Care Medicine, the GMU Cancer Center.

Earlier on February 1, Zhang Nuofu, deputy president of the First Affiliated Hospital, already led a medical aid team to the Union Hospital (west campus) in Wuhan and set up a temporary party branch during the epidemic period. So far, the patient admission work of ICU has returned to the right track step by step. The 16-member team was to join the one led by Zhang Nuofu in the Union Hospital (west campus) to treat those critical patients.

From January 23 to February 7, a total of 32 medical workers from GMU’s affiliated hospitals have been sent to Wuhan to treat and save fatal patients. Among them, many participated in the fight against SARS 17 years ago.

Aid ICU of Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital

On February 7, in accordance with the unified deployment of Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission, a medical team comprising 8 doctors and 15 nurses from the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of GMU was mobilized to station in and aid the epidemic prevention and control efforts of the Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital. Their main task was to support the ICU wards in the hospital.

Academician Zhong Nanshan was engaged to act as the advisor for this medical aid team. At the same time, a leadership team was set up by the First Affiliated Hospital to direct works on aiding Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital in fighting against COVID-19. This medical team, which was originally established as a backup team to aid Wuhan, consisted of the most competent doctors and nurses from the Department of Respiratory Medicine and the Department of Critical Care Medicine, who had been rigorously trained and assessed.

Li Yimin, party secretary of the First Affiliated Hospital, encouraged the team members to uphold the Nanshan spirit and the anti-SARS spirit, and work closely with Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital to save more fatal patients, prevent critical cases from worsening to fatal ones, improve the success rate in therapy and eventually win the battle against COVID-19.

Yu Yuheng, a team member from the Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital, said that he had treated fatal COVID-19 patients some time earlier, “At present, the most fatal patients in Guangzhou are in our hospital. Academician Zhong Nanshan and Dr. Li Yimin treated the patients in person, while two of our three ICU directors have been sent out to aid other hospitals. They are role models for us to learn from.”

In this team, there were also some post-90s medical workers. Wu Simin, born in 1996, was the youngest one. She was a primary student when SARS broke out 17 years ago. Now she has become a nurse practitioner wearing the uniform and a nurse hat. “We post-90s medical workers will never run from the fight against the epidemic!” she said firmly.