With World Red Cross Day marked this week, local medics who work on a medical mission in Morocco digitally shared their experiences and stories of Africa and their pursuit of the spirit of the Red Cross.
Dr Jiang Yunqi, an orthopedics physician at Zhongshan Hospital and leader of the 196th batch of Chinese Medical Team to Morocco's Settat division, showed a special snapshot taken in the operating room.
It showed Jiang and a Moroccan patient, who had insisted on sitting up to express his gratitude to the Chinese doctor who saved him, despite just having surgery.
Patient recognition is the best encouragement and gift for a doctor, Jiang said.
A patient insists on sitting up to take a picture with Dr Jiang Yunqi soon after surgery.
The 196th batch of Chinese Medical Team to Morocco started their two-year medical aid mission last October. The 10-member team, with six members from Fudan-affiliated hospitals, sent stories and photos on Red Cross Day to explain the essence of their work.
The team is based at the Hassan II Hospital in Settat, the only public comprehensive hospital in the region. The hospital serves 700,000 local people as well as patients from surrounding underdeveloped areas. These patients often delay seeking medical care due to financial difficulties.
In order to treat and save more patients, all team members collaborate actively and try their best to find innovative solutions under limited conditions. Working 24-hour shifts on weekends and attending to patients in the middle of the night are routine for the team members.
Dr Xu Rui from the anesthesiology department of the Eye and ENT Hospital of Fudan University said she would always remember the rescue of a 27-year-old woman who gave birth in the early hours of the morning. Upon arrival at the operating room, the team found the woman had lost a significant amount of blood and urgently needed fluid replenishment.
With a shortage of instruments for fluid therapy, Xu employed a central venous catheter (CVC) she had brought from China as an urgent solution. After three hours of intense effort, the woman was saved.
Xu said she had imagined such challenges before going to Morocco and had spent one month learning from a doctor who served on the Morocco mission previously, focusing on effective anesthetic techniques under constrained conditions to meet the high demand for anesthetic care in obstetrics and gynecology and ensure patients' safety.
When seeing the happy faces of the new mother and the baby, all efforts and hardship are worthwhile, she said.
Dr Xu Rui takes a picture after saving a new mother who had lost a lot of blood.
Despite the challenges, such as language barriers, resource limitations, cultural differences, and religious beliefs, the team is determined to provide the best possible healthcare.
After preparation and many efforts, the team last month officially donated a range of medical supplies, including equipment, disinfectants, and consumables, valued at 100,000 Moroccan dirhams (US$9,979) to the Hassan II Hospital.
The medical team donates medical supplies to the Hassan II Hospital.
