"It doesn't feel like hard work. "
At least that's what the Mindray Service team in Zhengzhou think. The team didn't sleep a wink for a whole week as they worked in collaboration with service partners in Henan to ensure that hospital devices continued to run smoothly.
On July 20, although the rainstorm showed no signs of stopping, engineer Lei Ni decided to go to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zheng University (Heyi Branch) for the regular inspection of Mindray devices as planned. After spending a few hours servicing devices in the Emergency Department, Lei Ni decided to stay near the hospital just in case. There was an abrupt power outage at the hospital and the rain was going to flow into the outpatient lobby. Lei Ni decided to rush back to the hospital to rescue the devices in the low-lying laboratory on the first floor. Misfortunes never come singly – Lei Ni found he could not get in touch with anyone as his mobile phone had no signal. As soon as the rainstorm abated the next morning, Lei Ni and staff at the Laboratory Department raced against time to move the devices to safety. "Drink this for energy," said one of the hospital staff, handing Lei Ni a bottle of glucose water. At this point, none of the medical staff staying at the hospital on duty had had a break in over 12 hours, as they were busy caring for some 30,000 patients and family members. Besides, the hospital had run out of both food and drinking water.
It was arranged that patients would be transferred to East Branch in the afternoon, and Lei Ni decided to help. "I want to go with you to East Branch. We can't afford for the devices to fail when they get there," Lei Ni said to a member of the department staff. Lei Ni chose to remain on the front line, with barely any rest.
"I'll drive over and pick them up," said Lei Ni, who had taken a break of less than 24 hours. Because of heavy traffic jams and flooding, the components could not be delivered directly to Zhengzhou; they were taken to the nearby city Zhumadian instead. The devices needed to be set up as soon as possible, as Heyi Branch was about to reopen. "At the time of the call (noon on 25), Lei Ni had just returned to Zhengzhou, and needed to immediately go to another hospital to service devices.
"Sorry, I've lost track of the day," said Lei Ni with some embarrassment. In the face of the heavy rainstorm, he was entirely focused on whether the hospital devices worked well and what other support he could offer, with little thought to the time of day or night.
When the floodwaters receded, all the hospital rooms were covered with mud. The Mindray Service team once again set out to do post-disaster maintenance. This involved several different sorts of assignments.
Some team members delivered supplies of drinking water to different departments to alleviate water shortages. Some went from one hospital to another to service devices to make sure they were up and running as quickly as possible.
Most of the team took on the task of cleaning departments with no ventilation and no electricity. They were busy in moving devices and handling devices and corrosive liquids that had been contaminated by rainwater. With work clothes that were soaked with sweat again and again, they worked solidly for seven consecutive hours without lunch, making the departments fit for purpose again.
The Mindray Service team is not only based in Zhengzhou, but every city in Henan. The Mindray Service Network has always been a source of pride for us. Our service channel partners are also an important and integral part of the Mindray Service team. In Anyang, three service engineers trudged five kilometers in the rain for nearly two hours to the hospital, hoping to fix the devices in ICU in time. In Tangyin, Mindray Service team immediately coordinated resources to pick up department staff who were stranded out of town and take them to the hospital. the engineers also gave a free ride to passersby on their way to and from the hospital.
As we spoke, more Mindray staff were rushing to Henan to join local Mindray Service team to play their part. Stronger together. Life comes first. Mindray will always be here to support Henan!