Physician outlines his team's calling to save lives

"I always use what I have learned to help people, because people come first, people's lives come first," said Zhu Xiang, associate chief physician in the department of infectious diseases at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

"Treating the patients and saving lives is not just my motivation, but also the calling of everyone in the mainland medical support team."

Zhu was one of 16 members of the advance team that arrived in Hong Kong on March 7.

The team represented the first batch of a mainland medical assistance force that had been arranged by the central authorities at the request of the Hong Kong government to help treat seriously ill COVID-19 patients in the city.

Zhu managed treatment work in one of the areas of the community treatment facility at the AsiaWorld-Expo complex on the island of Chek Lap Kok.

The area he was responsible for had the highest number of critically ill patients and also the highest number of elderly patients, Zhu said. He added that the team encountered challenges as a result of the patients' specific conditions.

"Firstly, their advanced ages: the average was more than 80 years old. Secondly, there were many underlying conditions as more than 80 percent of them had such problems, so some patients were unable to take care of themselves and could not communicate verbally. Thirdly, there were many unexpected situations, such as myocardial infarction (heart attack), respiratory failure and shock," he said.

To tackle unexpected circumstances, his team of more than 100 medical professionals had to be fully prepared around the clock, he added.

For example, seeing a patient whose condition had been stable suddenly develop respiratory failure or shortness of breath, Zhu and his team immediately conducted a series of tests to evaluate the patient's vital signs.

The team then provided the most appropriate and timely treatment in accordance with the results and the patient's underlying illnesses, he said.

"That kind of thing happened every day," Zhu said. "Our team members worked very closely together, day and night, and were always on hand to offer support.

Zhu said he was very pleased to see that his team's hard work helped the people of Hong Kong in a very real way.

"Doing our work in a thorough manner was a big contribution to society," he said.

In 2020, the veteran doctor also contributed to the anti-epidemic efforts in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, and also in Guangzhou last year.

"I'm very touched by the support of my family… they fully supported and understood my work," he said. "I want to say thanks to my wife and child－their support is my greatest motivation to move forward."