Helpless docs watch victims die

2008-05-15 13:40

Wudu, China - Li Rui always knew it would be tough to be a doctor. But never did he expect to watch his patients bleed to death in a chaotic makeshift hospital, with virtually no means to help them.

For three days and nights the chief surgeon and his team of 40 young doctors and nurses from Wudu hospital have laboured without power and short of medical supplies in an effort to save survivors of China's worst quake in 30 years.

"The worst has been watching people die, knowing you could not do anything for them," said Li, his eyes bloodshot and face pale with exhaustion. "I have never seen anything like it."

Li, 40, and his team have been forced to work in what was an open-air food market, after the earthquake ripped through this Sichuan province village of 13 000 on Monday, razing homes and part of the hospital.

The makeshift hospital on the side of a main road is only about 60km from the epicentre of the 7.9-magnitude quake that left more than 40 000 people dead or missing.

"When the earthquake hit we had to evacuate over 100 live-in patients," said Li.

Adding to the chaos, hundreds of patients from other towns began to inundate Li, including those from the small mountain town of Hanwang, where three hospitals collapsed in the quake.

"We couldn't stay inside the damaged building as it was too dangerous and in a very short time we had over 1 000 injured people sitting outside the hospital in the parking lot," Li said.

"Over 700 were grave injuries that we just could not treat and we had to have them transferred to other hospitals."

"I watched 12 people bleed to death, but there is no way we can carry out surgery here," said Li, as other doctors and nurses nodded in agreement.

"We have no electricity, not enough medicine, and we're outside," said one young doctor, pointing to the plastic awnings that are the only protection from the natural elements. "The risk of infection would be huge."

Racing and honking traffic kicks up dust from the main road, where some 100 patients were lying on mattresses that were hauled out of the hospital despite the risk of collapse.

The pace of injured people arriving at Li's hospital had slowed to a trickle by Thursday. The ambulances that rushed by with sirens screaming carried only the most critically injured.

But another risk was rising fast - that of infection and disease.

Piles of food and plastic grow next to the area occupied by sick patients who suffer from chronic heart and respiratory diseases, broken arms and legs and head injuries.

"We need tents to put people in. We still need more medicine and clean water because the risk of infection," Li said.

- AFP