170 Malaysian Family Physician 2008; Volume 3, Number 3 ISSN: 1985-207X (print), 1985-2274 (electronic) ©Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia Online version: http://www.ejournal.afpm.org.my/ MEDICAL RELIEF TO 2008 SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE, CHINA BH Chew MMed (FamMed UM), Tapah Health Clinic, Perak, Malaysia. Address for Correspondence: Dr Chew Boon How, Family Medicine Specialist, Klinik Kesihatan Tapah, Jalan Damai, 35000 Tapah, Perak, Malaysia. Tel: 05-4010260, Fax: 05-4018467, Email: chewboonhow@yahoo.com Doc’s Life I had the opportunity to join a volunteer team to bring medical relief to this unfortunate region in June 2008. Below is my recount of the event and report of our medical works done there. SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE The 2008 Sichuan earthquake occurred at 14:28 on 12 May 2008 in the Sichuan province of China. It measured at 8.0 on the Richter’s scale and lasted for “about two or three minutes”. 1 The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing (1,500 km away) and Shanghai (1,700 km away), where office buildings swayed with the tremor. It was reported that, outside China, the shake was felt by Vietnam and Thailand too. 2 Within 72 hours of the main quake, there were more than fifty-two major aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.4 to 6.0. The earthquakes damaged 2,380 dams across the region, including 1,803 dams in Sichuan province alone. Following the earthquake and the many aftershocks, rivers became blocked by large landslides and leading to the formation of “quake lakes” in this hilly region of China. This pooling up would gather huge and excessive amounts of water behind the landslide dams which might crumble into a catastrophic flash flood downstream. The casualties as of 21 July 2008 were reported to be 69,197 dead (about one third of which was school-going children), 374,176 injured and 18,222 still missing. 3 The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless, although the number could be as high as 11 million as there were approximately 15 millions people lived in the affected areas. Due to People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) one-child policy, many families lost their only child when schools in the region collapsed during the earthquake. Consequently, local officials in Sichuan province have lifted the restriction for families whose only child was either killed or severely injured in the disaster. RESCUE AND RELIEF Many rescue teams were reported ready to join the rescue effort in Sichuan as early as Wednesday. However, much of the intended rescue works were greatly hampered by blocked roads. These were worsened by coincidental heavy summer rains. On May 16, high-tech rescue groups from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Taiwan arrived to join the rescue effort. These groups were very much appreciated by locals for their life-detecting gadgets and, powerful and smart machine in excavation of rumbles. 3 The Internet network was seen to have become a unique tool at that crisis when it was extensively used for passing information to aid rescue and recovery in China. Many countries and international bodies praised Chinese rescue effort as “swift and very efficient”, contrasted to Myanmar’s secretive response to Cyclone Nargis which devastated the country 10 days before the earthquake. The PRC State Council declared a three-day period of national mourning for the quake victims began on 19 May 2008. Such national mourning was unique as it was previously only reserved for the passing a state leader. All PRC citizens across the globe stood silent for three minutes while air defence, police and fire sirens, and the horns of vehicles, vessels and trains sounded. Cars on Beijing’s roads came to a halt. 1 The Beijing Olympic torch relay was suspended for the duration of the mourning period. Many websites converted their front page to black and white, removing all advertisements, limiting their homepages to news items displaying banners about the earthquake and the relief efforts. I WAS MOVED TO ACT I was moved each time coming across the news about the sufferings of the quake victims, unceasing aftershocks and the selfless rescue efforts. The feeling was mounting over the days and finally I decided to act. I came to know that Holistic Integrated Services (HIS) organization was assembling a volunteer medical team to Sichuan within a week. I felt no qualms at joining the team, except I had not much confident in securing my family’s blessing. They were hesitant fearing for my safety. Nevertheless, they relented after realising relief works always involve some risks. ABSTRACT The massive 2008 Sichuan earthquake brought unprecedented international humanitarian aid to China. The monstrous damages and casualties aroused all human’s sympathy. I took the opportunity to join a Malaysian voluntary medical relief team to Sichuan in June 2008. This essay recounts the immediate events post-earthquake and reports on my experience during the mission. Keywords: 2008 Sichuan earthquake, earthquake aetiology, medical relief Chew BH. Medical relief to 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China. Malaysian Family Physician. 2008;3(3):170-172