Medical teams from neighboring cities aid Shanghai

Medical teams from many parts of the country have rushed to Shanghai to help transport COVID-19 cases that are elderly citizens, young children, pregnant women, and those with acute diseases, to hospitals.

The teams from Tianjin city and Henan province arrived in Shanghai on April 26 with more than 100 ambulances. The Henan team said that they had made more than 500 trips and transported 900 patients as of May 6.

Luo Yao, a leader of the Henan team, said that frontline workers will first contact the medical expert group and coordination group at the headquarters before dispatching the most suitable group for the task.

After doctors arrive at the scene, they will carry out a second evaluation and the headquarters will also help with guidance and coordination if necessary, he said.

"This is because our ambulances and doctors come from different hospitals with various expertise and experience. Some doctors are veterans in treating patients with emergencies while others are more experienced in dealing with severely ill patients," said Luo.

Luo said that the youngest patient the provincial team had transported was 6 years old, while the eldest was 107.

Yue Zunfei, the doctor who was responsible for transporting the 107-year-old from a fangcang, or makeshift hospital, to Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, noted that the woman had a fever, cough and abnormal oxygen saturation levels.

Yue said he shared the patient's conditions in the online group comprising multi-disciplinary doctors from the provincial team before they designed a customized transportation plan. A doctor from the fangcang also accompanied the patient during the transfer.

An oxygen inhalation mask as well as cardiac, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation monitoring were provided during the journey.

When the ambulance was 20 minutes away from the hospital, medics realized that the oxygen in her mask might run out before arrival. To address this issue, another ambulance was dispatched to transport the patient.