By Zhang Fu, Cui Ninghan, Sun Xingwei, Lin Duo, and Lei Yang

“I am a nurse, but first and foremost, I am a soldier. I could not withdraw whenever endangered.”

“Miss Wen (the head nurse), the Department of Emergency has just taken in a patient having gone into sudden shock!”

Wen Lifang, the head nurse of the 11th Chinese peacekeeping medical detachment to South Sudan (Wau), rushed to the emergency room regardless of exhaustion.

The patient, pale white, soaked with sweat, unconscious, and with intermittent hypoxic apneas, was in critical condition. Wu Wanchao, a nurse, was ready for venous blood collection according to the doctor’s orders, but the patient lost self-control, with his arms unconsciously waving around to even knock over the treatment tray next to the bed down onto the ground.

“Miss Wu, hand me the needle, quick! You come and stabilize his arm.” Miss Wen breathed a sigh of relief after successfully got the blood sample with much care. Although she knew well that it’s more likely to prick her own hand in such an occasion, bringing unexpected risks, she has always charged forward every time there is an emergency.

Not long ago, a local hospital turned to the Chinese peacekeeping medical detachment due to its lack of experience in COVID-19 vaccinations. Miss Wen took the initiative to offer support upon hearing about it. She and her colleages successfully fulfilled the task of vaccinating more than 200 people while providing hand-to-hand technical training assistance to the nursing staff of the hospital.

With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across East Africa, Wen Lifang, along with her comrades-in-arms, has set up the image of Chinese military medical staff with perseverance and a strong sense of responsibility.

Reinforcing the “epidemic protective wall” along the Blue Line

Li Li, a nurse with the 19th Chinese peacekeeping medical detachment to Lebanon, has stuck for over 200 days and nights to the forefront of providing epidemic prevention and control service for the UN peacekeepers stationed along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon.

One day, Miss Li received an admission notice in the early morning. A patient suffering from dizziness, shortness of breath, and chest tightness, had undergone an initial clinical diagnosis in a primary hospital and needed to be immediately transferred to the Chinese medical detachment for follow-up treatment. Upon hearing about the notice, Miss Li instantly put on protective gear and rushed to the emergency pre-examination triage.

“The patient was very likely to be infected with COVID-19. We must hurry up under effective prevention and control with high protection standards. Everyone must pay attention to it!” While waiting for the patient, she repeatedly urged other personnel to get well protected through a walkie-talkie.

Registering, getting the ECG monitor ready, debugging the ventilator... As soon as the patient arrived, Miss Li got entirely devoted to nursing services.

It’s almost dawn when the patient had been properly treated after getting the nucleic acid test result. Miss Li, who had stayed up all night, left together with her comrades-in-arms for the patient’s peacekeeping unit, where they distributed medical supplies and shared experience in protection and treatment with the peacekeepers to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.

“The peacekeepers have come here to safeguard peace, and we must provide them with high-quality medical services”, said Miss Li, who has also paid much attention to humanistic care, psychological counseling, and rehabilitation intervention for peacekeepers while doing well in the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.