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Just another night saving kids' lives

By Wang Ru (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-17 07:56

Li Qinghua, 47, the head nurse, checks the record of a sick child at midnight. WANG JING / CHINA DAILY

Beijing Children's Hospital is located at the West Second Ring Road in Xicheng District. It is not a big hospital. However, it is possibly one of the busiest hospitals in the country, handling over two million sick children under 18 every year from all over the country.

The day before the Lantern Festival, METRO spent a night in the Emergency Center with the doctors and nurses fighting to save the lives of sick children.

10 pm

Bracing herself against the cold, Li Ying walks into the Beijing Children's Hospital. It is her sixth year as a nurse in the emergency center. The 25-year-old nurse lives in Mentougou district. It takes her one and half hours by bus and subway to get to the hospital for the "big night", twice a week.

Li changes into her pink nurses' uniform, pinning a badge with a giggling face of Garfield Cat on the front. There are 36 nurses and 12 doctors in the Emergency Center and they all wear cartoon badges to reassure the nervous children.

Tonight, there are four doctors and six nurses in the emergency center. To the doctors and nurses who work there, the shift from midnight to 8 am is known as the "big night shift", the most exhausting shift in the hospital.

"Every big night shift is a battle to save newborn babies and kids in danger, you will see how busy we are," said Li.

11 pm

"No! Please don't! Mom, leave me alone!" screamed a pretty girl of around six. She struggles to break free of her father who is trying to hold her arm still for an injection. She hits and bites everyone who tries to get close to her. Finally, the girl's father loses his temper. He jerks the girl's arm and slaps her face.

"Don't beat your daughter, it is useless anyway," Li said, restraining the father. She holds the weeping girl in her arms and calms her. The girl finally submits to the injection.

Midnight

Guo Xin, a 27-year-old doctor, has slept the whole day at home. Three months ago, she was transferred here from the infectious diseases department.

"My body clock is out of order now," said Guo, who recently found herself losing hair. She was engaged last year, but has not had the time to plan her wedding. She has already cancelled her honeymoon plans for the summer.

Guo is in charge of diagnosing and treating kids with usual diseases. Liao Kun, another doctor with 10-years working experience, is responsible for the kids who arrive by ambulance.

The doctors who have finished the evening shift - from 4pm till midnight - brief Liao and Guo about the conditions of the patients currently receiving treatment.

"It could be a busy night," said Guo, while taking notes about the condition of a 3-month-old baby who has a high fever.

1 am

Outside the hospital, the streets are becoming quiet. Only the occasional sharp explosion of fireworks breaks the peace. Inside the emergency center, it is a different story - anxious parents with crying kids crowd the hall.

The emergency center has a treatment room with five beds and three radiation-warming units for newborn babies. All have life-support devices. There is an isolated Intensive Care Unit (ICU) room for infectious diseases next door.

Li Qinghua, 47, is an experienced head nurse. She is busy working at a table in the hall. Her job is to determine which of the children need priority treatment.

"At night, all the other departments are closed, hence the emergency center becomes the only functioning section in the hospital. We treat over 250 patients per night on average," said Li, who started work in the hospital in 1984.

"As usual, patients have to wait two to three hours for treatment, but parents often urge us to take their children first. It is understandable, but impossible," said Li.

2 am

"Please save my child! Please!" A middle-aged woman rushes into the treatment room with her grandson lying in her arms. He is in coma caused by hydrocephalus.

She came from a village in Hebei province, traveling by coach. Her one-year-old grandson has been in coma for seven days. Li Ying puts an infant ventilator over the baby's face. Liao carefully checks the baby for a while and shakes her head.

"It is too late to save the baby," Liao said through a spasm of coughing. Two days ago, a two-year-old girl died from hydrocephalus. "We must save time for those who have a better chance of survival."

"It may sound cruel, but our doctors have to make such life and death judgements everyday," says Li Qinghua.

3 am

Di Qi, a 36-year-old nurse is introducing a catheter into the nose of a two-year-old boy, who took an antihypertensive pill by mistake and needed a fast stomach wash.

His grandparents hold the crying boy and try to comfort him. "Don't cry! Grandma will buy you a transformer toy," said the grandmother in tears.

"Poisoned by medicine meant for adults is a common cause of death for kids," said Di.

"Pneumonia is another major killer of newborn babies," she added.

Di's own daughter has a fever at home. Her husband is a bus driver and her mother-in-law recently broke her legs, so her 61-year-old father-in-law is the only person taking care of the whole family.

"We have no time to be a good mother, wife and daughter, we all need family support," Di said.

4 am

"Doctor, I don't have so much money! What can I do?" A man named Cao almost bursts into tears.

He is a migrant worker who has just finished the Spring Festival Holiday in his hometown in Anhui province and returned with his wife and five-year-old son, who has been found to have a serious heart disease. The man's son urgently needs hospital treatment, but he is was unable to pay the 8,000-yuan deposit fees.

"In this situation, we usually treat the sick child first and then ask the parents to collect the money as soon as possible," said Guo.

5 am

Li Qinghua takes a painkiller in the restroom. She has been suffering from headaches and digestion problems for over two decades.

"It is an common occupational disease among us. Most of us have painkillers in our pockets," says Li.

She receives a text message on her iPhone, a birthday gift from her college student daughter. Her daughter often sends her text messages at night, reminding her mother to take care of herself.

A couple approach Li, the son asleep in the mother's arms. They have come to thank Li.

"Patients understand that our work is the best reward and biggest happiness for us," Li says as she returns to her work.

6 am

"What's wrong with you? Are you really a nurse?" A mother in her 30s yells at a young nurse. Her daughter is crying loudly due to the pain from two unsuccessful injections.

"Get your director here. You should be fired immediately!" the woman shouts at the nurse.

Di walks over to the woman and asks her not to disturb the other patients. "Sorry, Madam, it is not the nurse's fault. It often happens," she says.

"We don't hate the parents," says Di. "They are upset seeing their sick children suffering from pains. But we need respect as well."

8 am

The hospital opens at 8 am. The doctors and nurses in the emergency center brief the morning shift on the condition of their patients, then finally call an end to the 'big night shift'. They have two days off before the next exhausting night shift.

Li Ying takes a shower and leaves the hospital for home. She says she often falls asleep on the bus and misses her stop.

Guo Xin has a date arranged with her fianc for tomorrow. She is looking forward to watching the blockbuster, Avatar.

Li Qinghua eats some instant noodles for breakfast and leaves the hospital.

Di Qi said says she will do some housework at home and cook a meal for her husband and sick daughter.

Exhausted Liao Kun sleeps in the rest room in the emergency center until the afternoon, as usual.