Rising to challenges

Among the seven-member team dispatched from the HKU-SZH, six were assigned to treat the most seriously ill coronavirus patients in the ICUs. Before heading to the front line, they had tried to prepare themselves, but they were still unprepared for what lay ahead of them.

One pressing challenge is the difficulty of working in full protective gear. Most medical staff had no previous experience dealing with a pandemic. Wearing protective gear was something entirely new for most of them. It was also a test of their endurance and adaptability. They wore N95 masks, goggles, multiple layers of gloves, and protection suits. When wearing all that gear, it's even hard to breathe, and the gloves make it more difficult to handle medical instruments.

Zhou Xingpu, a veteran nurse from the HKU-SZH, spent more than eight hours in the ICU on his first day at the Third People's Hospital — double the time nurses normally spend on duty in intensive care. He recalled that when he stepped out of the ICU, his clothes were soaked in sweat that had trickled even into his shoes. His palms were wrinkled and pale. He described the feeling as "really uncomfortable".

There is tremendous mental pressure. Patients suffering severe respiratory difficulties are in life-or-death situations continually. Ling Haining, a 30-year-old nurse from the HKU-SZH, said he felt high stress at the beginning. "I told myself I came here to help, not to make trouble," he said. Ling said he feels pressure to keep up the intense effort, even when he is off duty. In his spare time, he practiced wearing protective gear and reviewed the day's work.