Trans-provincial police and drivers make way for endangered teenager

A middle school student seriously injured in a car accident was transferred from Inner Mongolia's provincial capital Hohhot to Beijing, a distance of around 500 kilometers, in only five and a half hours thanks to the joint efforts of medical staff, police, and the public.

An ambulance carrying the seriously injured middle school student from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region arrived at Beijing Tiantan Hospital at around 10:36 a.m. on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua]

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, after a traffic accident on October 3, the 13-year-old patient was diagnosed with a severe head injury, a collapsed lung, and multiple fractures. After receiving treatment at a hospital in Hohhot, on Monday the decision was taken to transfer the teenager to Beijing.

The message about the teenager's transfer started going viral on social media in China on Monday, October 15, 2018. The notice detailed the route that the patient transfer would be taking, and called on drivers along the way to give way to the convoy. [File Photo: Xinhua]

On Monday evening, a notice was sent out about the medical transfer that included detailed information about the planned route. It called for drivers along the route to give way to the convoy carrying the seriously ill teenager. News about the trip quickly spread online, and the story was picked up and shared by several media organizations in China.

At around 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday, the convoy of three vehicles set off from Hohhot, accompanied by local police at various points along the way as they traveled from Inner Mongolia, through Hebei Province, and into Beijing. They arrived at Beijing Tiantan Hospital at around 10:36 a.m. – two and a half hours earlier than expected.

Zhang Dachun, a doctor with the Beijing Emergency Medical Center. Zhang accompanied the teenage patient from Hohhot to Beijing on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua]

Upon arriving, the 13-year-old was immediately transferred into intensive care, where they are currently being treated. 

"Relevant treatment will be carried out after experts have finished assessing the patient's condition," said Zhang Dachun, a doctor with the Beijing Emergency Medical Center who accompanied the Hohhot-Beijing transfer.