Committed to concurrent preparations for the equally fantastic Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, Beijing has overcome various risks and challenges such as COVID-19 and proceeded with all preparations in an orderly manner as scheduled. The PUMCH medical service team for the Winter Olympics has also completed the transition to the Winter Paralympic Games, which involves logo replacement, facilities resetting and a new round of training, contributing their share to the grand Paralympics that is marked by “simplicity, safety and excellence”.

Venue Medical Service Station

On February 21, just after the grand closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the venue medical service station started without a break the transition to the Winter Paralympics. Under the leadership of Medical Manager Shi Di and Medical Officer Chen Gang, the medical service team members replaced the Paralympic logos, carried out training on the use of accessible facilities, and conducted Paralympic personnel transfer drills.

To make entry and exit easier for the Paralympic personnel, they carefully adjusted the positions of the hand sanitizer and the body temperature measuring door, equipped the medical service stations with more lightweight and flexible wheelchairs and moved measuring instruments such as ECG monitors to accommodate the Paralympic users.

Considering the possible skin damage that might occur to people with disability, Shi Di, with support from PUMCH, sent dressings that might come in handy to the medical service stations in the closed loop as quickly as possible, and also provided detailed instructions for the use of various dressings. Such an efficient and meticulous response mode makes the Paralympics medical service team members feel reassured.

Alpine Ski Resort

Alpine skiing at the Paralympics is very different from that at the Olympics. First of all, it is more difficult for Paralympic athletes to glide on the difficult tracks, and the probability of falling in the sitting category is 30% to 50%, which places the medical service team under greater pressure. Second, Para skiers use different equipment, such as ski aids and sit-skis, etc., and ski doctors need to be familiar with the new equipment and practice new rescue methods. In addition, to ensure the snow quality under the rising temperature, work needs to be started one hour earlier than at the Winter Olympics, and staff members are required to show up for work at 7:30 in the morning, for which they need to get up at 5:00 to make preparations.

After the closing of the Winter Olympics on February 20, the alpine ski resort was fully transformed for the Paralympic alpine skiing, and medical service team also underwent the theoretical training of medical rescue for athletes with disability and the practical training of removing ski equipment and protective gear for the skiers.

On March 1, the first official training day for the Winter Paralympic downhill alpine skiing unfolded on the alpine ski resort.

Winter Paralympic Ward

On February 23, the PUMCH Winter Olympic Ward was renamed as PUMCH Winter Paralympic Ward, which marked the beginning for PUMCH to provide medical services for the Winter Paralympics.

A week earlier, PUMCH began to make preparations for the Paralympic transition. Led by Zhang Tian, head nurse of the ward, the medical staff and supporting staff of the ward, in accordance with the requirements of the “Accessibility Guidelines for Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games”, conducted a detailed inspection and comprehensive renovation of the facilities and equipment in the ward. Director Xu Kaifeng led all the staff members in the ward to participate in training and drills on disability etiquettes, the use of assistive devices and prosthetic repair and equip the ward with all the supplies that are needed such as wheelchairs, crutches, urine drainage bags and incontinence pads to ensure a seamless transition to medical services for the Winter Paralympics.

Staying on Duty during Winter Paralympics Opening Ceremony

At 16:00 on March 4, PUMCHers started to show up for work in preparations for the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics. Vice President Wu Peixin and Vice President Du Bin and the staff on duty watched the opening ceremony while keeping an eye on their job. During the opening ceremony, the on-site medical service team completed their tasks successfully, all medical service stations were running smoothly, so were the hospital emergency room, the ward, and operating rooms. The epidemic prevention and control, public security, fire protection, infrastructure and power systems were running without a glitch, and the information network security was ensured. The operation of both PUMCH campuses was overall stable and safe.

With the rich experience accumulated from providing medical services that are highly recognized by all during the Winter Olympics, the PUMCH medical service team will continue to provide quality services for the Winter Paralympics with a high morale and a down-to-earth approach so that the humanitarian spirit and international fraternity can cross mountains and seas and illuminate our future.

A medical service station at a venue was conducting drills for transferring patients in wheelchair

Ski doctors were practicing how to rescue skiers in sit-skis on tracks

Supporting staff were busy with replacing “Winter Olympic Ward” logos with “Winter Paralympic Ward” logos

When the national anthem was played at the opening ceremony, the staff on duty also stood up and sang the national anthem

Reporter: Chen Mingyan

Correspondent: Yan Li, He Jia and Chen Canyao

Picture: Sun Liang and members of the medical service team

Translator: Liu Haiyan

Editor: Wang Yao