Peking University, Apr. 20, 2013: A Peking University (PKU/Beida) relief team has arrived at the quake-hit area 2,000 km away to provide emergency medical aid as the first expert team from the Chinese capital.
“We are much moved as the Peking University Third Hospital (PUTH), in such a short time, has concentrated a team in high spirits and with masterly skills. The mobilization was in good order,” said PKU Council Chairman Zhu Shanlu at the mobilization ceremony in the evening.
“With trust from the central government and from the 70,000 Beida community members, the team heads to the frontline,” the chairman added.
Over 100 people were killed and thousands injured as of Sunday morning after a strong quake struck southwest China's Sichuan Province on the morning of April 20, triggering massive rescue efforts.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Lushan County of Ya'an City at 8:02 am Beijing Time, Xinhua reported. Setting out at 21:00, 13 hours after the quake, the team arrived at provincial capital Chengdu around midnight and was heading to Lushan.
It consisted of 27 physicians from orthopaedics, general surgery, neurosurgery, thoracic surgery, nephrology, critical care medicine, pediatrics, emergency, anesthesiology, and infectious diseases departments at PUTH.
The mobilization ceremony
The PKU relief team at the capital airport
The relief team (Photo/Xinhua)
Designated by China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, the PKU team will join the rescue work on behalf of the capital together with experts from Jishuitan Hospital.
The team has brought medicines and medical equipment to the stricken area.
Senior university leaders Wang Enge, Ke Yang, and Ao Yingfang also attended the mobilization ceremony at PUTH.
“I hope team members will follow scientific laws and take care of your own safety. I hope the team will return in triumph,” said PKU President Wang Enge.
PUTH President Qiao Jie paid tributes to the whole team, their family members, and all staff that helped to prepare supplies for the team. “Our team represents not only PUTH, but also medical workers in the capital and nationwide. The team should not only save lives, but also ensure the quality [of their work],” President Qiao said in her speech.
On the afternoon, the PKU Graduate Association initiated a campus-wide donation to quake-hit areas. “The association staff will be on duty at the office daily from 8:30 to 17:30, specifically receiving students who seek advice or aid [relating to the calamity].”
At midnight, the PKU News Center released a donation proposal in order to relieve sufferings among people in the quake-hit areas.
Two collection boxes will be open from 8:00 to 16:00 near Building No. 29 and at Room 108 of the Trade Union, according to the proposal jointly issued by the PKU Trade Union, Youth League Committee, Student Union, and Graduate Association.
Unlike the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, China has stepped into a microblogging era. The disaster immediately stirred heated discussion online, in which the PKU relief efforts have been widely commented at Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog service.
“(The PKU relief team's work) is much more concrete than just graying the avatar. Take care!” wrote Li Congzhou on his Weibo, referring to a popular move, especially among official Weibo accounts, to change their original avatar or template into a gray one to mourn.
“Go! The government and army are respectable in rescue efforts indeed, but it is the correct way only when a professional team leads the work,” wrote Liu Yang on his Weibo.
“We hope the team will spare no effort in rescue work and will try its best to save people’s lives and properties,” said Chairman Zhu at the mobilization ceremony. “The university will be your staunch supporter.”
Edited by: Jacques
Source: Agencies
Updated 2:54 am, 04/21/2013
