Wuhan Doctor Creates Group Chat for Global Health Professionals

Ye Baixin,an associate chief physician from the Hematology Department of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University and an active internet user,has always recognized the significant role the internet played in life.In January,he called on his Chinese alumni in the US to donate medical materials to Wuhan.In March,he called for donations for foreign countries.Through his communication with the frontline medics overseas,Ye came to know what the foreign counterparts needed was not only medical supplies,but also relevant knowledge,experience,and confidence in defeating the disease.So he wanted to do something to help them.

On March 22,Ye started a WeChat group chat dedicated to COVID-19 experience sharing.Soon many doctors in China and their foreign counterparts who were fighting at the frontline against COVID-19 joined the chat room.Within hours 500 doctors joined in,reaching the maximum number of one group chat.Then Tencent,the company that runs WeChat,updated it into a “corporate chat room” that allowed 10,000 members to join.Functions like live broadcast,videoconferences,and remote consultation were available.Now,more than 2,500 medical workers from over 20 countries including the US,Germany,France,and Italy are in the chat room,with 485 from China.Some prestigious Chinese medical experts as Prof.Zhang Wenhong from Huashan Hospital of Fudan University,Prof.Zhang Jinnong from Wuhan Union Hospital Affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Prof.Hu Ke from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University are all members.They are engaged in communicating with foreign counterparts about COVID-19,offering their professional suggestions.Hence doctors have gained more confidence in their fight against the virus.

The platform works 24/7.“For doctors,every minute counts.Every question asked in the group might be a matter of life or death,” said Ye Baixin.The staff are all volunteers who are fully aware of the pandemic in the world that some of them are still answering questions even late at night,sharing their own experience in the battle.Up to May 9,they had already organized 10 video conferences.

In the first conference on March 28,Prof.Zhang Jinnong,director of the Emergency Department at Wuhan Union Hospital,recalled his personal struggle with the viral infection and his own reflections on the treatment.Ye Baixin would collect questions from overseas medics beforehand and transfer these questions to speakers.This way,the speaker could tailor their content to audiences.Each video conference has been recorded and can be replayed so that they are available to viewers in different areas and countries.

Dr.Ye Baixin shows the WeChat group chat to the reporters葉柏新向記者展示正在熱烈討論的全球抗疫交流群

葉柏新，中國(guó)武漢大學(xué)人民醫(yī)院血液科副主任醫(yī)師，特別看重網(wǎng)絡(luò)的力量，也是一個(gè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)積極分子。今年1月和3月，他曾呼吁海外華人校友募集醫(yī)藥物資援漢，又號(hào)召大家募集物資援外。交流中，他得知海外醫(yī)生不僅缺物資，還缺知識(shí)、經(jīng)驗(yàn)和信心，想幫他們做點(diǎn)力所能及的事。

為了這個(gè)樸素的愿望，3月22日，他發(fā)起建立了一個(gè)治療COVID-19 的經(jīng)驗(yàn)交流群，國(guó)內(nèi)同行踴躍參與，海外同行也不斷把他們奮戰(zhàn)在抗疫一線的同行拉進(jìn)群里，人越來(lái)越多，數(shù)小時(shí)內(nèi)，加群人數(shù)就達(dá)到500 人限額，騰訊公司特意將其擴(kuò)容為“萬(wàn)人群”，可以實(shí)現(xiàn)直播、病例討論、遠(yuǎn)程會(huì)診等。如今，已有來(lái)自美國(guó)、德國(guó)、法國(guó)、意大利等20 多個(gè)國(guó)家的2500 余名醫(yī)務(wù)人員加入。其中，中國(guó)醫(yī)務(wù)人員485 名，復(fù)旦大學(xué)附屬華山醫(yī)院張文宏教授、華中科技大學(xué)附屬武漢協(xié)和醫(yī)院張勁農(nóng)教授、武漢大學(xué)人民醫(yī)院胡克教授都在其中，他們提供專(zhuān)業(yè)指導(dǎo)，傳遞信心力量，和世界同行切磋交流。

交流群24 小時(shí)有人應(yīng)答?！搬t(yī)生們必須爭(zhēng)分奪秒，在看不見(jiàn)的那頭，可能就關(guān)乎一個(gè)生命的救援?！比~柏新說(shuō)。群成員都是志愿者，但心系世界疫情，有的深夜還在線應(yīng)答，分享自身治療經(jīng)過(guò)。截至5月9日，群里已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了10 場(chǎng)直播。

3月28日，首場(chǎng)直播中，張勁農(nóng)講述了自己曾不慎感染新冠肺炎的經(jīng)歷，以及在治療過(guò)程中的心得。在后來(lái)的直播前，葉柏新先通過(guò)接龍的方式征集海外醫(yī)務(wù)人員的問(wèn)題，讓直播的主講教授更具針對(duì)性；每次直播內(nèi)容都可重播，以滿足不同地區(qū)同行的時(shí)差需求。

American doctors show the masks donated from Wuhan doctors美國(guó)醫(yī)生收到武漢同行捐贈(zèng)的口罩

On May 2,Song Enfeng,director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Department at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University shared his experience of battling against the epidemic by applying TCM clinical treatment through the live streaming.“TCM has accumulated rich experience of treating various epidemics in the past thousands of years.With oriental wisdom offered in TCM,we have confidence in coping with COVID-19,and we do have some good curative effects,” said Song.It has been proven that TCM has played a positive role in relieving symptoms of sore throat,cough,and restoring fatigue in clinical treatment.Song’s lecture caused a sensation among the viewers—some foreign medics were seeking out the mysterious oriental medicine.Ye himself also mailed some Chinese patent medicines to his American tutor and two of his alumni abroad,and hope they would feel the charm of Chinese medicine.Ye said that some Chinese TCM experts had already accumulated some anti-epidemic resources and data which would be shared with international counterparts for further analysis.

“The platform is still at its early stage,with many details yet to be improved.Nevertheless,it’s a good beginning for many medical workers in the world who can learn from the Chinese experience in fighting against COVID-19.

No matter which country we are from,as a doctor,we have the responsibility to care for every patient,respect every life and save every patient.At this critical moment when the virus is plaguing the world,each group member is committed to helping and supporting each other,strengthening cooperation and sharing experience.We hope more medics overseas will join us.By working together,we will defeat the epidemic and safeguard our common community.It is the common aspiration of all medics since they joined the chat room.” (Translation: Liu Jie)

Song Enfeng,director from TCM Department at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University is live streaming through WeChat to share his experience of fighting against the epidemic武漢大學(xué)人民醫(yī)院中醫(yī)科主任宋恩峰在微信群里進(jìn)行抗疫直播

5月2日，武漢大學(xué)人民醫(yī)院中醫(yī)科主任宋恩峰直播分享中醫(yī)藥抗疫經(jīng)驗(yàn)，他說(shuō)：“中醫(yī)治療瘟疫數(shù)千年，以古老的智慧應(yīng)對(duì)沉疴，我們有底氣，也確實(shí)收獲了療效。”他說(shuō)，在臨床實(shí)踐觀察中，中醫(yī)藥對(duì)于減輕患者咽喉疼痛、緩解咳嗽癥狀、體力恢復(fù)有積極作用。講座一石激起千層浪，部分海外醫(yī)務(wù)人員紛紛尋求來(lái)自東方的神秘中藥。葉柏新也給在美國(guó)的導(dǎo)師及兩位校友寄出中成藥，讓他們真切感受東方醫(yī)藥的魅力。他說(shuō)，抗疫期間，國(guó)內(nèi)中醫(yī)專(zhuān)家們已積累了一些數(shù)據(jù)，經(jīng)過(guò)系統(tǒng)分析后,不久將呈現(xiàn)給全球同行。

“交流群處在草創(chuàng)之初，還有諸多細(xì)節(jié)需要完善，但畢竟世界上有不少醫(yī)務(wù)工作者聽(tīng)到、看到、借鑒到中國(guó)的抗疫經(jīng)驗(yàn)，這是個(gè)良好的開(kāi)端。真誠(chéng)關(guān)懷每一個(gè)生者、尊重每一個(gè)生命、全力拯救每一個(gè)病患，這是醫(yī)者良心，也是醫(yī)者之職，不分國(guó)界。在病毒肆虐的當(dāng)下，守望相助、加強(qiáng)合作、共享經(jīng)驗(yàn)，讓更多的海外醫(yī)務(wù)人員加入進(jìn)來(lái)，最終攜手戰(zhàn)勝這場(chǎng)瘟疫，維護(hù)人類(lèi)共同家園，這是交流群里每一位群成員所祈愿和秉持的。”葉柏新表示。

“武漢的防疫經(jīng)驗(yàn)啟迪著我們前行。”不少海外醫(yī)護(hù)人員表示。醫(yī)生Jennifer 在收到多位中國(guó)醫(yī)生發(fā)出的英文解答后，在群里連發(fā)了3 個(gè)點(diǎn)贊的“大拇指”。