Medical workers put their lives on the line

Chinese personnel offer help in conflict zones

Shen Yun watched her patient's heart rate drop significantly, from 60 beats per minute to 30 and even lower.

Then, an oximeter - an instrument used to measure oxygen saturation in the blood - showed a reading of zero, indicating that the patient's heart had stopped.

"We've lost her," one of the nurses said. For a short while, Shen was too astonished to speak. The pregnant woman was her first patient at Abs Hospital in northwestern Yemen.

"We've lost her?" a doubtful Shen asked a few seconds later. As a highly experienced obstetrician and gynecologist, Shen knew that the patient had pregnancy-induced hypertension, a condition that can put the life of mother and child at risk.

In Beijing, where Shen, 46, usually works, equipment such as cardiograms, monitors and ventilators is available to support surgery. But in Yemen, where medical supplies are limited and the security situation dangerous, births that teeter between life and death are commonplace.

Shen quickly decided that the woman needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. After working on the patient for 20 minutes, her heart started to beat on its own again. Another weak heartbeat was detected, showing that the baby was also still alive.

An anesthetist quickly carried the woman to the operating theater.

Shen said it took her less than 30 seconds to rush to her office and change into surgical attire. The next sound she heard was the baby boy crying after a Caesarean section. After four hours' surgery, the mother also emerged from danger.

Shen worked at the Yemeni hospital from November 2017 to the following January. She was one of the volunteer doctors from the international medical and humanitarian aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders.

When Shen arrived at the hospital, she was the only expatriate obstetrician and gynecologist there. On average, she received 800 to 900 patients a month, performing two to three cesarean sections a day.

Most of Shen's patients in Yemen were pregnant women who were critically ill. In China, the maternal mortality rate is about 19.6 per 100,000. However, in Yemen, where the health system is in a chronic state, the rate is 385 per 100,000.

"In most Chinese cities, hospital facilities today are constantly improving and upgrading, but in Yemen it's a totally different story," Shen said.

She described Abs Hospital as resembling a "countryside clinic", with floors made of sand and stones. With limited room and beds, it was not unusual to see two patients sharing a bed, and sometimes a mat was used in place of a bed.

Years of armed conflict in Yemen have led to numerous deaths and injuries. According to UN estimates, more than 22 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country.