PLA hospital saves lives in Wenchuan earthquake

Medics at the hospital have a rest after days of continuous work.

Doctors operate on Lai Yuanping, a miner who was buried underground for 196 hours in the Wenchuan earthquake.

Nine surgery groups worked day and night for 300 hours after the quake in order to treat the wounded as quickly as possible.

While the temporary medical center took care of hundreds of wounded people, a medical team consisting of 22 medics and three field ambulances hurried off to seriously damaged areas. They were the first medical team to arrive to the heavily damaged Dujiangyan.

The medical team rescued 398 wounded people from the ruins during 72 hours of rescue work at the local People's Hospital and Juyuan High School.

Ma Long, an eighth grade student in Juyuan High School, had his leg crushed underneath a building's cross-beam. Three medics crawled into the ruins and gave him an infusion as they scraped bricks away with their bare hands. Ma Long was pulled out of the ruins 10 hours later.

Lai Yuanping, a miner buried underground for 196 hours, was brought to the hospital via helicopter at 7:00 pm on May 22.

The man was dying when he arrived at the hospital. Senior doctors from the hospital and the entire army gathered together using the Internet to help with his diagnosis. The best surgeons made up the surgery group.

Lai was saved after seven and a half hours of surgery.

The medics at the military hospital continued to perform miracles. The hospital alone saved five people who were buried underground for more than 100 hours.