The baby is hurried into the emergency room of the First Hospital of Jilin University in Changchun City.
CHANGCHUN, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A newborn baby who stopped breathing after birth was saved after timely transfer to a better hospital in northeast China thanks to police escort and help from others during a 350-km journey between two cities.
Little Lu Chenchen failed to breathe and his heart beat only ten times a minute when he was born at 12:10 pm on Jan 6 in a hospital in Baicheng City, Jilin Province.
Without an infant ventilator at hand, the doctors tried their best battling death but decided that the only way to save him was to send him to Changchun, the capital city of Jilin, which has better medical facilities.
The baby is the first child of his parents, who has been married for 12 years.
"There was no time for me to feel the happiness of being a father, when I learned my son had severe birth asphyxia," said Lu Guoliang, "I felt the sky was falling down."
The 38-year-old first-time father feared the worst but refused to give up.
At 2:30 pm, the First Hospital of Jilin University in Changchun received the transfer request, and sent a rescue team along with an ambulance equipped with an incubator and an infant ventilator to pick up the baby at 4:00 pm. En route, they gave doctors in Baicheng advice of treatment on phone.
Traffic police sent 28 officers with 14 police cars to escort the team. Local radio broadcast also asked drivers nearby to make way for the rescue mission.
Traffic police escort the rescue team on the highway.
Doctors monitor the condition of the baby on the ambulance.
At 20:47 pm, the rescue team arrived at the Baicheng hospital, but the gas tank of the ambulance ran low. Police officers managed to bring gasoline there.
At 9:14 pm, the baby was carried on board and the rescue team began to head for the capital city. Local residents brought food to the starving rescue team who didn't have time to eat.
The baby was carried on board.
At 0:45 am on Jan.7, the ambulance reached the hospital in Changchun and the little patient was hurried into the emergency room.
After eight hours' treatment, doctors announced the condition of the baby was stable.
At 9:18 am, the child cried for the first time of his life.
At 9:50 am, the father was permitted to visit his son in the intensive care unit and took the first photo of the boy.
Help from en route saved one hour for the rescue team, which was critical for the baby's life, doctors said.
"I want to thank everyone who helped us," said the father, "I don't know their names. I don't even recognize their faces. But I owe them too much. I feel so lucky to live in such a helpful place."
Doctors said the child still need to be closely monitored. "The baby is still unconscious. We are doing all we can to stabilize his organ functions and prevent brain injury from worsening," said Wu Hui, a doctor with the First Hospital of Jilin University.
"It remains to see whether he will suffer from sequela," he said, adding that they will conduct more examination in the next stage of treatment.
The First Hospital of Jilin University is one of the only two hospitals in Jilin Province that are equipped with mobile facilities for infant rescue. Since put into use 10 years ago, the facilities have helped the hospital save more than 3,000 babies in critical condition.
(All photos are provided to Xinhua)
