Xiong Lei
High level of rescue goes beyond altitude
By Xiong Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-22 07:46
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Editor's note: The efficiency, coordination and scale of the rescue work in Yushu are unprecedented.
Watching from afar, I am struck by the high level of the rescue work at Yushu, the Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province, western China, which was devastated by a 7.1 magnitude quake on April 14.
With the death toll climbing to 2,064 by Tuesday, the disaster came as a complete surprise to the local people, destroying their homes in moments. To them, the catastrophe is unprecedented.
Also unprecedented is the level of the rescue work, which started almost as soon as the first shock wave was over.
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Having been to Yushu several times in its best season, I know how challenging the physical conditions must be for the rescue workers, most of whom have never been that high before. People from lower altitudes run out of breath easily when they go there, even when they are idle. If they move, they must do so slowly. The rescuers, of course, do not have the luxury of acclimating slowly. Also, they must deal with the aftershocks, the striking temperature differences between day and night, the changeable weather, and many other difficulties.
Rescue work is physically exhausting. Already one rescuer has died of altitude sickness. Yet those who rushed to Yushu have braved all these challenges and raced against time to save lives. So far they have rescued more than 10,000 survivors, and transferred more than 1,000 seriously injured to other cities for better medical treatment.
Within two days, my Tibetan friends at Yushu, whose houses collapsed in the quake, moved into tents provided by the government and got electricity. Thanks to the efficient rescue, they told me by phone, they and their neighbors got over their initial panic quickly and have calmed down. My friends are all occupied with relief work; Deyang, one friend's teenage daughter, has been working as a volunteer. At first, her mother told me, the girl was so frightened that she cried for almost the whole day. But obviously she is frightened no more and as she is helping rescuers who do not understand the local dialect to communicate with local people who need help.
Batang Yushu airport, which opened only last September and is one of the highest airports in China, has performed well and has become a crucial channel for rescuers. Although the airport itself suffered damage in the quakes, it was quickly restored to service and is now handling many more flights than it was designed to accommodate.
Still, most supplies have to be transported over land, so the 800-km road from Yushu to Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai, has become a lifeline to the quake-stricken area. Half of the road is 4,000 meters above sea level, and I was moved to tears while watching workers trying to keep the road passable day and night, despite the cold and high altitude.
The high level of rescue work is also reflected in the importance attached to it by China's top leadership. The head of state and the head of the Cabinet both went to Yushu in person, in defiance of the aftershocks and other physical challenges, while the top leadership of the province rushed to Yushu the very day the quake hit. That kind of concern is really touching to see at a time like this.
The high level of rescue work has brought physically remote Yushu closer to us all, and it has brought us closer together as a nation.
The author is a council member of the China Society for Human Rights Studies.
(China Daily 04/22/2010 page8)