My Unforgettable Experience

in the Sichuan Search and Rescue Team

NGAI Lai-ping, Registered Nurse

I am a registered nurse working in the Department of Health.  From 15 to 22 May 2008, I joined the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Search and Rescue (S&R) Team to assist with the relief work in Sichuan.  In my ten-odd years of nursing career, I had never encountered the challenges I had to face in these eight days, which gave me an indelible experience.  I would like to take this opportunity to share my experience in the following "Relief Journal".

Stand by

        At 2:28 p.m. on 12 May 2008, an 8-magnitude earthquake took place in Sichuan Province.  News reports showed scenes of devastation and people moaning for help.  It was as if hell was on earth!  Scenes of the affected areas kept haunting me.  Being a public health nurse of the Department of Health, a yearning for helping out in the affected areas surged in my heart, in addition to feelings of shock and heartache.  The next day, when I learnt that I could join the 'HKSAR S&R Team', which was jointly formed by the Fire Services Department and the Department of Health, the yearning in my heart transformed into a dynamic force, fearing no danger nor abominable circumstances.  I gave my pledge of participation before discussing with my family members or considering their feelings.  I simply told them, 'I'll be going to Sichuan tonight.' and determinedly accepted this sacred mission.  I was so insignificant, yet I was given a chance to serve my country with my limited power in this calamity.  What an unforgettable experience it was.  

Set off

        Due to various factors, our flight was delayed.  But we finally arrived at the Chengdu Airport in Sichuan at 4:00 a.m. on 15 May 2008.  After getting off the plane, we found out that we were arranged to carry out relief work at Hanwang Town in Mianzhu County of Deyang City, one of the most devastated areas.  In this mission, we needed to stay in tents with sleeping bags instead of a hotel.  Neither tap water nor electricity supply was available there, not to mention facilities for us to meet our basic physical needs.  Apart from enduring undesirable working environment, we also had to work under the threat of aftershocks of various magnitudes.  Fortunately, the S&R Team had brought along sufficient resources for around one week's mission, including medicines, medical supplies, distilled water, dry food and an electric generator. The gracious reception and extra supplements rendered to us by the Fire Department of the Public Security Bureau of Sichuan Province further boostered our spirit!  At around 8:00 a.m. on 15 May 2008, the S&R Team arrived at the affected areas where the landmark of this disaster stood - a clock tower which stopped at 2:28 p.m. - the moment when the earthquake hit!  As we proceeded further to the affected areas, we were shocked by the scenes before our eyes.  It seemed that the community had been scourged by war: everything being reduced to rubble.  In the face of this agonizing sight, we could not wait to start the search and rescue work. 

Guardian

        In this search and rescue operation, the team doctor and I were responsible for attending to the physical and psychological health of the S&R team members, ensuring that they had undergone disinfection procedures after return from the affected areas, instructing them on the proper way to wear masks and briefing them on the infectious diseases which would probably emerged in the affected areas.  Moreover, in sorting out the personal health record of the team members, we would pay heed to their health condition so as to identify their health needs.  Since every minute counts in S&R work, getting injured was inevitable.  The team members would come and show me their 'achievements'.  Fortunately, most were only superficial wounds.  Apart from promptly treating their wounds, I would also cheer them on.  Sometimes they shared with me the pain, pleasure and the adventurous incidents which they had encountered during work, as well as their personal experience and feelings.  After working side by side for several days, we soon became good friends.  Since I was the only female in the team who showed concern for their health, caring them like a mother and making them feel at home, some of them thus addressed me as 'Mom'.  Though I am still young at age, I did not really mind their calling me 'Mom'.  Instead, I felt satisfaction at having my effort and hard work recognized.

Lamentation and requiem

        While search and rescue operations were underway, family members of the missing stood in the vicinity of the rubble, staring at piles of bricks expressionlessly.  Whenever a victim was discovered, their faces would tense up and they would, hoping against hope, walk swiftly towards the stretchers which were being carried by the S&R team members.  However, in a short moment, their shattered hearts were once again pierced!  Cries of distress rose from time to time, some cried bitterly and loudly while some passed out in excessive grief.  The whole area seemed to be cloaked in a shroud of sadness and anguish.  Indeed, the feelings of being amidst could hardly be expressed in words.   Later, when being asked of my feeling in the affected areas in a television interview in the Mainland, I responded, 'Human body is so fragile that resistance to the power of nature is utterly impossible.  However, nothing can destroy the love among us.'  I just hope that the S&R teams could help find the missing persons as soon as possible, whether alive or dead, so that the family members could end their suffering in waiting, the deceased be laid to rest and the survivors live on courageously.  It was said that an equal number of fireworks would be let off for the number of victims found as a token of respect to the dead, wishing that they would rest in peace.  When I returned to my tent, I prayed for the victims and their family members who I didn't even know and hoped that the deceased would rest in peace and the hearts of the survivors would be consoled. 

Inspiration drawn in the face of danger

        On the midnight of 17 May 2008, heavy rain and strong wind suddenly came up, blustering and roaring as if God was grieving over this catastrophe!  Our tents were almost overturned and the land rocked like a cradle.  It felt like death was knocking at the door.  By instinct, I dressed and equipped myself with 'extreme' swiftness to seek safety in flight.  Fortunately, we came through unharmed.  By dawn's early light, the weather became so bright and fresh that one could hardly believe that a storm had been raging all night.  This illustrated that nature and life share the same feature: variability.  In this mission, we experienced aftershocks of various magnitudes. Luckily, all members of the "Hong Kong SAR S&R Team" remained safe and sound.

Good news

        In the morning of 19 May 2008, shortly after the S&R Team arrived at another rescue site upon redeployment, there came the exciting news of a survivor being found in the rubble by the airborne troopers.  The spirits of the team members were instantly lifted.  By perseverance and persistence, another survivor - a dog, was finally found.  Although it was just a dog, it still meant that a life was saved!  The team members were delighted to have achieved this after several days of hard work.  All of their weariness and distress vanished into thin air.  Later, since the relief work entered into a new phase, the S&R Team went to standby in Chengdu on the night of 20 May 2008 and returned to Hong Kong on 22 May 2008 upon accomplishing the mission.

Feelings and reflections

        This experience sharpens my understanding of human life: a great calamity befell all of a sudden and in a short duration of just five minutes, hundreds of thousands of people were affected, many families shattered, many lives lost and many displaced … telling us that we can never take happiness for granted.  I hope that we who live in Hong Kong would understand that while life is not always smooth, it is also pretty short.  We should therefore cherish our own lives and be grateful for the people and things that come into our lives, especially our dear family members.

        I have been transferred to different departments and posts in my career as a nurse, but it is not until now do I appreciate the noble sentiment of Florence Nightingale 'The Mother of Nurses' for attending on the sick and injured in the battlefield.  Nursing has long been regarded as a sacred occupation because all nurses adhere to the lofty spirit of ‘Burning themselves to give out light for others', always equip themselves and standby to fulfill responsibilities and mission fearlessly even in face of difficulties and challenges.  Thus, we nurses should be prepared to meet any emergency.  Apart from enhancing our professional health care knowledge, we should also seize every opportunity to take relevant refresher courses such as life support techniques, trauma care, crisis management and post-disaster counseling, so that we will be fully capable of serving the public in any kind of emergencies.