Sudden accident, emergent treatment
On the evening of June 25 local time, at the site of the 220kV power transmission and transformation project in Geita Town, Mwanza Province, Tanzania, three employees of the project including Guo Yu had a traffic accident on the way back from the construction site. A flat tire caused the vehicle to roll over. After inspection by the local hospital, Guo Yu had a spine fracture and hemorrhage in the 5th, 6th, and 7th vertebrae. There was a high risk of paraplegia, and surgery was urgently needed.
The CAMCE representative office in Tanzania urgently contacted the Aga Khan Hospital with the best medical conditions in Dar es Salaam, and at the same time reported the situation to the company.
In order to avoid secondary injury to Guo Yu during the transfer process, when his physical condition was basically stable, CAMCE rented a business chartered plane to transfer him to the Aga Khan Hospital on July 3 for further treatment. At the Hospital, after remote consultations with domestic and foreign experts, it was recommended that Guo Yu should return home for surgery as soon as possible within one month. In order to seize the golden time for treatment, the transportation of the injured became a urgent duty.
Multilateral Coordination and Support
After hearing the news of Guo Yu's injury, CAMCE immediately set up a leading group and working group to carry out the rescue work. Chairman Wang Bo and General Manager Wang Yuhang held several emergency and special meetings, requesting that all forces should be united to use all available resources, carefully deploy and arrange every key link, and do our best to make sure that Guo Yu gets the best treatment.
At a time when the COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread in Africa, and Guo Yu's condition was not suitable for connecting-flight, the transfer work has encountered unprecedented challenges. Despite the coordination of multiple Departments of the Chinese government, Guo Yu was still unable to take a direct flight from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Guangzhou on July 18.
On July 15, the company urgently studied and decided to transfer Guo Yu back to China via a medical charter flight from International SOS. At the same time, SINOMACH and the company maintain close communication with the Guangdong Provincial Government and related parties, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, International SOS, and Aga Khan Hospital to ensure the smooth process of pre-boarding, boarding, on-board medical care, reception in Guangzhou for Guo.
On July 22, just before the medical charter flight took off, the International SOS sent an emergency notice. Due to the adjustment of the pre-departure location, Guo Yu’s transfer was delayed by one day. The working group conducted joint communications with SOS Beijing Assistance Center, SOS South Africa Assistance Center, and FAI headquarters in Nuremberg of Germany overnight to reconfirm the route. It wasn't until the medical chartered flight departed from Congo (Brazzaville) to Tanzania on the 23rd that everyone's hanging heart was slightly settled.
However, when the medical charter plane landed in Germany and was ready for another pre-takeoff inspection, the aircraft's tires were found to be faulty and the takeoff was delayed. After several ups and downs, Guo Yu obtained a special entry permit from Germany, and was arranged to rest at the Klimt Hospital in Nuremberg for 12 hours. After that, the chartered flight took off again, targeting Guangzhou, China. During the entire transfer flight, CAMCE management and related colleagues tracked the entire shift in real time, coordinated with the International SOS Global Rescue Center for multinational approvals for aircraft routes, stops and take-offs and landings, to meet the requirements of multinational transshipment during the COVID-19 epidemic for on-board epidemic prevention, and completed the entire transfer, and won valuable time for Guo Yu's follow-up treatment.
Safe arrival, successful operation
At 11:25 on July 25, Beijing time, the medical chartered flight arrived in Guangzhou safely. CAMCE Deputy General Manager Li Haixin greeted Guo Yu at the airport on behalf of the company. Subsequently, Guo Yu was transferred to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province for treatment.
On July 26, after more than three hours of intense surgery, Guo Yu come out of the operating room safely, and his family members showed long-lost smiles on their faces!
This is an all-out race against time. In 30 days, the company completed a treatment relay spanning tens of thousands of kilometers across the Africa, Europe and Asia. Along the way, with the strong support of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and SINOMACH, CAMCE has persisted on life first, which reflects the company's care for employees. The company will always be the strong back for every overseas employee.
We sincerely hope Guo Yu will recover soon !
Ready to go to the airport to take the SOS medical charter flight back home
Arrived safely at Guangzhou Airport
Successful operation, looking forward to recovery