(Reported by Yu Jinyan and Jing Yunchuan) At 16:00 on April 7, a video conference was held between a team of experts from our hospital and over 20 health officials and local hospital doctors from the Northern Ireland government. The conference focused on the medical treatment, prevention, and control of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Our experts also addressed questions raised by local doctors and health officials during the session.
The conference connected three venues. Present at our hospital’s Telemedicine Center were Zhang Jie, Director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and Dr. Yu Jinyan. Also participating were a team of experts who had recently returned from Wuhan after providing medical assistance, including Vice President Qin Yanguo, Chief Physician Wang Ke, Chief Physician Yu Dan, Deputy Chief Physician Xue Xin, and Dr. Zhang Jingxiao. Together with doctors from Northern Ireland, they discussed issues related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Northern Ireland and Jilin Province are friendly cooperative partners. Our hospital has long maintained medical exchanges and collaboration with Ulster University in the UK, and has previously sent medical students for academic visits to the institution. When the pandemic outbreak occurred in China, the university’s leadership sent a letter of solidarity to our hospital. As the situation escalated in the UK, our hospital reciprocated with a heartfelt message of support and offered any assistance within our capacity.
Upon learning that our hospital had dispatched a medical team to support frontline efforts in Wuhan, the Northern Ireland government expressed a strong desire for our experts to share their experience in combating the pandemic. They issued a diplomatic note to Jilin Province through the British Embassy, and our hospital was entrusted with organizing this exchange. The video conference was chaired by Mr. Tim Losty, Minister-Counselor and Head of Northern Ireland Affairs in the Asia-Pacific region at the British Embassy.
Doctors and health officials from multiple hospitals in Northern Ireland raised questions on various topics, including:
The efficacy of chloroquine in treating COVID-19
Coagulation function, microthrombosis complications, and laboratory indicators of DIC in COVID-19 patients
Monitoring indicators and recommended treatments for cardiac dysfunction in COVID-19 patients
The use of ventilators for critically ill patients
Our hospital’s experts responded to these specialized academic questions in precise English.
Mr. Tim Losty remarked that the online session was exceptionally well-organized and that the experts from the Second Hospital of Jilin University provided highly valuable insights. He expressed deep appreciation for the event and emphasized the importance of such clinical-level exchanges. As Northern Ireland enters a critical phase of the pandemic, he hopes to maintain communication with the experts from the Second Hospital of Jilin University to continue sharing experiences related to COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, senior medical students in Northern Ireland have been deployed to clinical duties ahead of schedule, and he expressed a desire for more clinicians and medical students to participate in future video conferences.
As of April 7, Northern Ireland had reported over 1,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19. With countries continuously escalating their measures against the pandemic, international exchanges have become increasingly frequent. This conference marked a pioneering effort in Jilin Province’s international exchanges on COVID-19, demonstrating our hospital’s medical expertise and capacity for global collaboration. Moving forward, our hospital will continue to share clinical treatment plans and research findings with more countries and peers, contributing to the global fight against the pandemic.
