First group of critically ill patients arrives at new Wuhan field hospital

Huoshenshan Hospital, an emergency field hospital built in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, to treat novel coronavirus pneumonia, received its first group of critically infected patients on Sunday.

The group of patients were transferred from designated hospitals and arrived at Huoshenshan Hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Li Weiqin, a doctor at the hospital's intensive care unit, said patients with critical conditions will be treated carefully. They will need to undergo triage and then be treated with antiviral drugs in a timely manner to improve their immunity.

To ensure patients' safety during hospital transfer, the ambulance is equipped with sufficient devices, such as an ECG monitor with medical personnel on board to deal with any problems that might occur during the transfer, People's Daily reported.

The hospital also has set up an expert team to provide technical support and carry out remote consultation at any time.

Once the patients arrived at Huoshenshan Hospital, they were brought immediately by the medical staff into the ward and placed under observation with the help of nurses. Medical documents were handed over to ensure accurate treatment of each patient.

Huoshenshan Hospital is one of the two makeshift hospitals being built to treat patients infected with novel coronavirus and has a capacity of 1,000 beds.

Its construction was completed on Feb 2 and staff started to treat patients on Tuesday morning.