Fifty bus drivers who have been in support of Beijing's 120 first-aid station withdrew recently. They were one of the only groups of laypeople fighting SARS. These drivers had transferred more than 1,000 SARS patients.
At 8 o'clock on the evening of June 3, six bus drivers took off their exposure suits having finished their last duty. All bus divers had finished their work in support of the anti-SARS frontline.
These 50 omnibus drivers had begun their work on April 29, the period when the SARS situation was at its most serious.
At the end of April, the 120 first-aid station faced a need to append ambulances for transferring SARS patients. Although 60 ambulances reached the position immediately, they had difficulty in recruiting enough drivers.
When Beijing Bashi Co. Ltd was aware of the problem faced by the first-aid station, they immediately made an appeal to staff to reinforce medical workers in the fight against SARS. Within 30 minutes of the call being delivered, more than 300 members of the Party and the Communist Youth League signed up. Just one hour later, a group of 50 experienced omnibus drivers were organized.
Like medical workers, these bus drivers also needed to have isolated clothing, protective goggles and boots. During the worst period of more than one month, they were dispatched 865 times and transferred 1,245 SARS relevant patients, driving some 34,685 kilometers.
Despite being laypeople, none were infected by taking effective scientific protection.
(China.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong, June 14, 2003)
