“Wuhan Livingroom,” located in Dongxihu District of Wuhan, Hubei Province, is a crucial local convention and exhibition center. Due to COVID-19, it has been transformed into the “Dongxihu Cabin Hospital”, which is used for treating patients with mild illnesses of COVID-19.
Members of the fourth Chongqing municipal medical team wear protective suits at Dongxihu Cabin Hospital. (Photo by Xie Zhiqiang)
A quarantine area with more than 1,400 beds has been set up inside the building, and a great number of temporary tents have sprung up outside the building, which are temporary offices and dressing rooms of various units in the hospital.
The Dongxihu Cabin Hospital began receiving patients on February 6. The fourth batch of medical team dispatched from Chongqing to Hubei is one of the earliest medical teams stationed in the hospital.
On the evening of February 15, the Fourth Chongqing Medical Team was informed that they would all move to the newly built Zhuankou Cabin Hospital for medical rescue. Therefore, the medical team had to finish their work in the Dongxihu Cabin Hospital before February 16.
The only doctor on duty
On February 16, Zhang Liming, a member of the Fourth Chongqing Medical Team and the attending physician of the Department of Respiratory Medicine of Chongqing General Hospital, took his shift in the hospital from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This was the only shift of the medical personnel stationed in the quarantine area of the Fourth Chongqing Medical Team that day.
“We have to deal with a relatively large workload.” Zhang Liming said that the Dongxihu Cabin Hospital is divided into three “cabins”, and each section consists of various communities. Every doctor is responsible for a community with over 100 beds, which means that there are more than 100 patients in a community. Nurses also shoulder great responsibilities. Each community is divided into different grids, and each grid incorporates about 40 beds with the spacing of about two meters. Every on-duty nurse has to take care of all patients in a grid.
“We usually have to work overtime. Today, for example, I have to keep working until 10:00 p.m.” Zhang Liming said that after returning to the dormitory, he would clean and wash immediately, have dinner around 11:15 p.m., and go to bed at nearly midnight.
Stand up for the last shift
Unlike Zhang Liming who works in shifts, Niu Bailin, the captain of the Fourth Chongqing Medical Team and the attending physician of the Department of Emergency Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, comes to the Dongxihu Cabin Hospital on a daily basis. As the person in charge of administrative affairs, he has regular meetings with the hospital headquarters and other medical teams.
On February 16, he arrived at the hospital at 8:00 a.m. On the regular meeting that day, the attendees discussed the use of traditional Chinese medicine for patients with COVID-19. Niu Bailin said that Dongxihu Cabin Hospital receives patients with mild illnesses, so their usage of traditional Chinese medicine should differ from that for critical patients.
On the evening of February 15, on behalf of the Fourth Chongqing Medical Team, Niu Bailin proposed a relevant plan to the hospital headquarters, including the dosage and procedures of using traditional Chinese medicine. During the regular meeting on the morning of February 16, Niu Bailin submitted the plan to all parties concerned for discussion and obtained initial approval. At around 2:30 p.m., on the second arrival of Niu Bailin to the hospital, the expert group of the hospital reviewed the plan proposed by him. About half an hour later, the plan was officially adopted.
“Studying this plan is my last task at the Dongxihu Cabin Hospital,” Niu Bailin said.
Welcome a new beginning
On the afternoon of February 16, eight members of the Fourth Chongqing Medical Team came to the Dongxihu Cabin Hospital to transfer the four mobile rescue vehicles brought from Chongqing to Zhuankou Cabin Hospital.
These four vehicles, including a general outpatient service vehicle, a medical examination vehicle, an electric-gasoline hybrid vehicle, and a medical device vehicle, constitute a mobile “county-level hospital” with other equipment and vehicles provided by the Chongqing Municipal Health Commission to join the fight against COVID-19.
“On a tight schedule, we have to move into the Zhuankou Cabin Hospital tonight,” Niu Bailin said. On February 16, except for those on duty, other members of the Fourth Chongqing Medical Team took a short rest. Starting from the next day, they will devote themselves to their new roles at the Zhuankou Cabin Hospital.