At the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Center of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, four clinicians from PUMCH, namely He Jia from Department of Thoracic Surgery, Deng Kan from the Department of Neurosurgery, Li Qiyi from the Department of Orthopedics Surgery, and Che Lu from the Department of Anesthesiology, started their day packed with intense preparations for alpine skiing (Ren Guangwei, from the International Medical Service of Xidan Campus, is responsible for providing medical services at the Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park). They temporarily changed out of the familiar white coats and scrubs and put on the ski suits for Winter Olympic volunteers and also rescue backpacks, filling in the role of ski doctors. They are meant to be in the closed loop for 3 months to provide medical services for the alpine skiing program of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

On February 2, two days before the opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the apparent temperature at the top of Xiaohaituo is minus 18°C. The ski doctors had to get up and put on their gear before dawn, and then, after a one-hour closed-loop bus ride, they arrived at the alpine ski center; before the dawn fully broke, they were already at the medical service station there; they then began to check the rescue backpack to confirm whether any item was missing, whether electrical equipment had enough battery power, and whether oxygen cylinders were well-stored. After that, they put on layers of gear, including snow suits, snow pants, snow boots, helmets, goggles, protective masks, N95 masks, and the vest bearing the medical team’s logo. Already fully armed, the ski doctors then needed to check whether the communication equipment was tuned to the correct channel. When everything was ready, they carried the snowboard and headed up the mountain to start the day’s work. In the preparatory stage, the ski doctors did injury response drills with other teams (patrol team and field medical station staff) and cooperated with medical rescue helicopters to do fast-rope training. The apparent temperature on the mountain had been around minus 10℃ to minus 30℃, but the freezing cold didn’t deter PUMCHers from working enthusiastically and assiduously for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to proceed smoothly or from providing medical care to whomever in need.

Written by and photo courtesy of Che Lu, the Department of Anesthesiology

Translator: Liu Haiyan

Editor: Wang Yao