Fighting the Epidemic with "Warm" Figures Gathering HeYou Strength

At a nucleic acid testing site, the distance from the queuing area to the sampling area was nearly 100 meters. Teachers and students wore masks, maintained a one-meter distance, and queued for testing in an orderly manner. This scene epitomized the large-scale nucleic acid testing efforts in Shunde District over the past week. The efficiency and speed behind it were inseparable from the concerted efforts of medical staff, department workers, and community volunteers fighting on the front line of nucleic acid testing.

Recently, various hospitals have dispatched support teams to nucleic acid testing sites across Shunde. Since April 11, the Meihe Hospital, affiliated with the HeYou International Hospital project, has also formed nucleic acid testing support teams, deploying four times to sampling sites such as the Huoli Sports Center, Shangliao Cultural Square, and Xijiao Cultural Park in Beijiao Town.

Lift your head, relax, open your mouth a bit wider. The sampling staff performed throat swabs for the citizens, with each single sampling time not exceeding 60 seconds. Although the sampling staff were very close to the citizens, their faces were indistinguishable, and their genders unknown. Wearing N95 masks, disposable caps, airtight protective suits, and finally double gloves and face shields... This was the complete set of protective gear for the sampling staff, leading citizens to affectionately call them "Big Whites."

I Am Not Sister, I Am Uncle!

"Thank you, sister," "Haha, I am not sister, I am uncle"... At the Huoli Sports Center in Beijiao Town, sampling staff member Feng Liantao encountered this "mistaken identity" more than three times during sampling, but these words were deeply etched in his heart. The sincere eyes and sweet voices of the children made the entire day's hard work more meaningful.

From 8:30 to 21:30, this marathon-style nucleic acid sampling saw a daily average of over 800 samples per person. During this period, he experienced 40 glove changes and 800 hand sanitizations. "After a whole day, the pain in my hand joints grew stronger and stronger," Feng Liantao joked, adding that despite doing the same work, his physical strength could not match that of the younger ones.

At the sampling site, he was a front-line sampling staff member, fighting alongside everyone; at Meihe Hospital, he was the Senior Professional Manager of Medical Affairs, leading by example while fulfilling his duties. When an urgent nucleic acid sampling task was received, he had to be the first to step forward. From late March to April, from schools to communities, he had already participated in three nucleic acid sampling support missions.

As a member of a dual-medical-worker family, while he fought on the nucleic acid front line in Shunde, his wife, a nurse, fought on the nucleic acid sampling front line in Zhaoqing. Although they were in different cities, they were engaged in equally meaningful work. This might be their version of a romantic life.

Feng Liantao stated that if there were any more nucleic acid sampling support tasks, he would still be the first to rush forward, not only because of his family's support but also because of the influence of his colleagues. This group of young people at Meihe Hospital could always find a positive breakthrough in difficult environments, infecting everyone around them with their full spirit.

First Time Entering a Village and Serving as Team Leader

Lei Shaoyi is from Huanggang, Hubei, and had lived in Shunde for less than a month. As a newly recruited medical staff member, he is a laboratory technician in the Medical Technology and Laboratory Department of Meihe Hospital, responsible for relevant testing work in the hospital's physical examination center.

From the laboratory to the villages of Shunde, this was his first time participating in nucleic acid sampling support work in Shunde, and also his first time serving as the team leader of a sampling group, leading 15 colleagues to Shangliao Village in Beijiao Town for nucleic acid sampling.

At Shangliao Cultural Square, the on-site medical staff were already in position early in the morning. They put on their protective suits in designated areas and made various preparations. As the leading team leader, Lei Shaoyi had to communicate with the staff of the community health service center on-site, coordinating issues such as the sampling site, personnel and material allocation, and sampling procedures.

"On-site conditions were limited, and everyone came from different hospitals, requiring rapid coordination and cooperation," said Lei Shaoyi, a "newcomer," who felt the on-site work efficiency. From the specific queuing location to the standardization of the sampling process, he could see his colleagues actively communicating, which made him more at ease and better able to devote himself to the front-line sampling work.

In fact, as early as May 2020, he had participated in a comprehensive nucleic acid testing and sampling campaign for senior high school students in Huanggang, Hubei. At that time, the sampling was conducted in an open-air playground under the scorching sun, with sweat pouring inside the protective suits. Comparing this to his previous experience, Lei Shaoyi felt that the sampling site in Shangliao Village this time was already quite comfortable. In the temporary battlefield set up with tents, there were fans, ice buckets for cooling, and cooperative villagers. Although it was still very hot, his heart felt much cooler.

Proudest Moment: Being "Recognized"!

Sweating profusely inside the white battle suit, with willpower as strong as steel under the blazing sun, this was the work insight summarized by Huang Fuping, the Chief Pharmacist of the Western Pharmacy at Meihe Hospital. At outdoor sampling sites, especially during the period from 12:30 to 17:00, when the outdoor temperature was highest, reaching 32°C, it was a test of willpower.

Wrapped in the thick "Big White suit" in the sweltering heat, with marks from the mask and goggles left on his face, Huang Fuping knew this feeling well. At the Xijiao Cultural Park sampling site, he served as a team leader for the first time. Besides performing throat swabs for citizens, he also had to shuttle between various areas on-site for communication and coordination. Wrapped in the "Big White suit" and moving around under the scorching sun, the result was that the skin on his arms was still sunburned. He could only let his skin breathe fresh air during the breaks when he took off the "Big White suit."

Front-line sampling work was hot, tiring, and hard, but it also brought unexpected surprises. On the evening of April 15, responding to a notice from higher authorities, Huang Fuping and four other colleagues went to a residential community for nucleic acid sampling. When residents saw "HeYou Meihe" written on their backs, they started talking, "So you are medical staff from HeYou Meihe Hospital! I know this hospital; I have even been there for treatment. Thank you so much for coming here after hours to serve us. With you here, we feel much more at ease."

His tired body immediately relaxed upon hearing these words. Huang Fuping said he specially shared this experience with his colleagues, suggesting that everyone write "HeYou Meihe" on the back of their protective suits in the future, so that more citizens could feel their sincere dedication and also motivate themselves to participate more actively in front-line support services.

"12-Year Party Membership" Giving Full Effort

"I am a Communist Party member, with 12 years of party membership. Participating in front-line nucleic acid sampling is an unshirkable responsibility and duty." Xiong Bin, a specialized nurse for operating rooms jointly trained by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, has been in the profession for 10 years and a party member for 12 years. Before joining the Meihe Hospital family, she was actively involved in anti-epidemic work. Now, as a part of Meihe Hospital, she continues this sense of responsibility, actively participating in various volunteer activities of the hospital.

When talking about participating in front-line sampling work, she remembered two things vividly. After finishing sampling at a kindergarten, the children danced to express their gratitude. At that moment, she was deeply touched. Seeing the innocent and pure eyes of the children, all her hard work felt worthwhile. Another time, a child who might have had a cold vomited during sampling, with the vomit spraying out. Fortunately, the face shield blocked it. Although the "Big White suit" was heavy and stuffy, it could better protect herself and the citizens in critical moments.

Xiong Bin enthusiastically introduced the achievements of her colleagues. Wu Haimei was once an anti-epidemic warrior, participating in external sampling, hospital sampling, and support for the Beijiao Town Government without missing a single one. At the Beijiao Huoli Square nucleic acid sampling site, Feng Fan held her post until the last moment, earning the title of "Most Beautiful Guardian Angel." There were also Feng Zhenzhen, Huang Wei, Wang Ziyu, Cao Shuzhen, Yu Keqian, Deng Fei, Chen Yapei, Hou Ailin, Wang Peng, Wu Jingjing, Chen Shuang, Xie Yingya, Li Nan, Cheng Fan, Yi Yunping, Zou Yanwen, Chen Shuang, and all the colleagues from the Physical Examination Department. While supporting the town government's nucleic acid sampling work, they also held the fort at the hospital. Every colleague at Meihe was contributing their strength to the fight against the epidemic, and everyone was doing a great job.

Responding to the government's call, the Meihe Hospital support team set off again, heading to designated schools in Beijiao Town to provide nucleic acid sampling services, contributing to the anti-epidemic efforts. On April 16, to facilitate the return to school and classes for teachers and students of primary, secondary, and kindergarten schools, Beijiao Town organized a dedicated nucleic acid testing session for school teachers and students across the town. The medical staff of Meihe Hospital hoped to use their caring, warm, and reassuring services to make citizens feel warmth and tenderness, building a strong defense line for the masses against the epidemic.