The Invisible Heroes of the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center

The following is an English translation of a Chinese article written and published by New Fujian. You can find the original article at the bottom of the post.

Credits:
N Haidu Reporter
Lin Baozhen and Yao Zhimei/Text
Guo Haoqi/Photo

Editor's note: 120 is the number called in China when in need of first aid or emergency care.

How to Develop the Unique Skill of Saving People at the Gates of Hell

The reporter visited the 120 dispatch room of the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center to reveal how the "invisible heroes" were cultivated

On March 10, Li Rutao, a 120 dispatcher at the Provincial Hospital Affiliated with Fuzhou University and the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center, guided the family members to complete the cardiopulmonary resuscitation of the baby within 4 minutes, successfully saving the life of a 16-day-old baby. During the tense rescue process, Li Rutao relied on his professional knowledge and calm judgment to guide the family members to perform first aid remotely.

After being reported on multiple platforms of the Strait Metropolis Daily, this incident has attracted widespread attention. While people admire the miracle of rescue, they are also curious about the dispatchers. With these questions in mind, the reporter once again went deep into the 120 dispatch room of the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center to interview and reveal the secrets of the cultivation of this group of "invisible heroes".

Everyone is a “Living Map”

On the map of Fuzhou's main urban area, more than 300 key points such as hospitals, schools, bus stops, etc. are densely marked... This is not an ordinary map, but a map drawn by the dispatchers in the dispatch room of the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center.

"Dispatchers must be familiar with the streets, alleys, communities, and important landmarks in Fuzhou city, so drawing maps has become a 'compulsory course' before taking up the post," said Chen Mei, head of the dispatch room of the 120 dispatch center of the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center. This ensures that dispatchers can quickly locate the location of the incident when receiving a call for help, thus buying precious time for rescue. "Now each of them is a 'living map' of Fuzhou," said Chen Mei.

Dispatchers need to record a large amount of information in a very short time, which requires a high typing speed and accuracy. Dispatchers usually use their free time to practice with newspapers. "Haidu Newspaper is the material for our dispatchers to practice." Chen Mei said with a smile.

First Aid Knowledge is a Basic Quality

Mastering first aid knowledge is a basic quality for dispatchers. The center invites specialists to give lectures on first aid knowledge every month, covering various diseases and first aid skills. At the same time, dispatchers are sent to other centers or external institutions for learning and exchanges to broaden their knowledge and horizons. When faced with requests for help, they can quickly and accurately judge the condition and give appropriate guidance.

Dispatchers Have a "Right-Hand Man"

In the 120 dispatch room, the reporter saw that each dispatcher had two screens in front of him: the right side displayed real-time traffic conditions and caller location information, and the left side ran the MPDS system (emergency Medical Priority Dispatch System).

The MPDS system is a "powerful assistant" for dispatchers. It has a powerful knowledge base and contains 33 emergency plans for different emergencies. After receiving an emergency call and asking for the geographic location, phone number, and main symptoms, the dispatcher will immediately enter the system to start the relevant plan. The system will classify the patient's condition based on the patient's age, gender, consciousness, breathing, and other information, such as ABCDE and Omega, and then give corresponding guidance plans.

"Grade E represents the most critical situation." Chen Mei played up the case of a choking baby handled by dispatcher Li Rutao on March 10 for demonstration. After entering "16-day-old baby, unconscious, not breathing", a red warning box immediately popped up on the screen and automatically jumped to the cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidance process.

"With this system, it's like taking a 'reassurance pill' for us." Earlier, Li Rutao also said in an interview with reporters that although it was the first time she handled a case of a 16-day-old baby choking on milk, the system gave clear and feasible instructions after evaluation, allowing her to systematically guide the family members on the other end of the phone to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the baby and calm the family members' emotions. Of course, these instructions have been deeply engraved in her mind through her day-to-day work and have become muscle memory.

"Put the base of your palm on her sternum, which is right in the middle of the line between the two nipples." "Put your other hand on the back of this hand and press the chest quickly, at least twice per second..." The reporter noticed that the instructions provided by the system are easy to understand, and even people who have not received first aid training can understand and implement them step by step. During the 16-day baby rescue process, the family members were very panicked at first, but under the comfort of Li Rutao, they followed the instructions step by step and successfully rescued the child. On December 19 last year, a 13-year-old boy successfully helped his mother give birth to his younger brother at home under the guidance and comfort of dispatcher Chen Chaoshun for 10 minutes and 13 seconds.

Post-Event Case Review to Ensure Efficient and Professional Rescue

Chen Mei introduced that in order to ensure that the dispatchers' work level is always maintained at a high level, the dispatch center has established a strict quality management system. Every day, a special quality control seat will conduct spot checks on the events handled by the dispatchers, and will conduct detailed scoring from speech speed, wording to the entire processing process. If deficiencies are found, they will be promptly fed back to the dispatchers for enhanced improvement.

The playback and inspection of the recordings of emergency incidents, also known as review, can not only identify problems in the work, but also summarize the experience and lessons learned, providing reference for subsequent work. This strict quality control encourages dispatchers to continuously improve their business capabilities and ensure that every rescue operation can be carried out efficiently and professionally.

In dispatching work, various emergencies are often encountered, which is also a great test for the psychological quality of dispatchers. Chen Mei introduced that in order to help dispatchers overcome nervousness, the center will carry out relevant training to teach them how to stay calm and objective under high-pressure environments. The dispatch center has also invited professional psychological experts to conduct training, so that dispatchers can learn to think from the perspective of others, understand the tension and anxiety of family members, enhance empathy, and better communicate with those who seek help.

They Use Their Expertise to Protect Life

On the evening of December 19, 2024, a woman who was 37 weeks pregnant was about to give birth. She was alone at home with her 13-year-old son. The woman made an emergency call to the 120 dispatch room of the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center. Under the telephone guidance of dispatcher Chen Chaoshun, the 13-year-old boy quickly entered the midwifery guidance state and became a key support for his mother during the delivery process. The call lasted 10 minutes and 13 seconds. In the end, the newborn was born safely with a loud cry.

At about 7 a.m. on May 6, 2024, the 120 dispatch center of the Fujian Provincial Emergency Center received a call from a caller saying that a 43-year-old man had fainted in a community on Xiufeng Road in Fuzhou. The center immediately dispatched an ambulance to the scene for treatment. "Keep pressing and don't stop. Keep doing chest compressions. Don't give up. We will do it until the emergency doctor arrives. This will help him." The dispatcher Wang Ningnan always maintained contact with the caller and instructed the family members on the other end of the phone to continue chest compressions until the emergency doctor arrived at the scene. With the medical staff racing against time to rescue, the patient's heartbeat resumed during the transfer.

Reporter's Notes – The Perseverance Behind the Lifeline

"Thumbs up for this operator, he is very professional and has good psychological quality!"

"I sincerely admire such a 120 dispatcher!"

"When I heard the first cry of the child, tears came to my eyes, the operator is great!"

Netizens highly praised Li Rutao's professionalism, "Amazing!"

Li Rutao's successful case of saving a baby's life is just a microcosm of the dispatchers' daily work. The efforts they put in, the rigorous training they receive, and the enormous pressure they face are unimaginable to ordinary people.

The reporter learned that dispatchers all have professional medical backgrounds and can only take up their posts after at least three months of rigorous training and obtaining a dispatcher qualification certificate. Currently, there are 17 dispatchers in the 120 Dispatch Room of the Fujian Emergency Center, who work in three shifts and are on duty 24 hours a day to ensure the smooth flow of the emergency rescue "lifeline". In 2024, the dispatch room received more than 500,000 calls, handled more than 64,000 emergency incidents, and dispatched more than 58,000 ambulances.

In this high-intensity work, dispatchers are always on their toes to ensure that they do not miss any calls. Dispatchers on each shift need to wear headsets and calmly talk to the callers while quickly entering key information on the computer to ensure that emergency missions are dispatched and executed quickly and accurately.

It is precisely because of the dispatchers' solid professional ability, strict self-discipline, and strong psychological quality that they can become the first solid line of defense to protect lives in every rescue mission.

See the original article: