Grenada
On the southernmost side of the Windward Islands, in the eastern Caribbean, lies a group of islands, beautiful as pearls. They are Grenada.
From December 5 to 11, 2015, the Peace Ark carried out a seven-day friendship visit to Grenada and offered free clinical and humanitarian services. It was the ship’s first visit to Grenada.
“We offer clinical services not only on the Peace Ark; we also tour the country. We want to cover as many people as possible,” said hospital director Sun Tao. The Peace Ark deployed nine medical teams to communities over three days to help local people.
On the morning of December 7, the Peace Ark deployed eight experts from five medical disciplines to Carriacou Island. The team took a 90-minute boat ride to the island, the second largest in Grenada. Carriacou covers 33 square kilometers and has 7,000 permanent residents. The Princess Royal Hospital was the only public medical institution on the island and had only one doctor and and one electrocardiograph.
“We sent specialists in internal medicine, gynacology, pediatrics and stomatology and took equipment such as B-ultrasound devices,” said team leader Li Xin. The team comprised six clinicians, an ultrasound technician and a nurse. They stayed on the island for three days and two nights, marking the Peace Ark’s longest-ever offshore island clinical service.
On Carriacou, the team received 360 patients and conducted B-ultrasound scans on 103 people. Then Deputy Prime Minister of Grenada, Elvin Nimrod, who was visiting China, sent Chinese Ambassador to Grenada Ou Boqian a text message, saying he was born on Carriacou and wanted to extend his sincere gratitude to the Peace Ark for its services.
The Peace Ark also sent experts and instructors to St George’s University and conducted seminars for more than 80 medical students on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, hypertension pathogenesis and prevention, and diabetes prevention and treatment. The seminars were very popular.
Medical science is borderless. Humanity, philanthropism, and dedication are the motivation of medical workers.
On the evening of December 8, head nurses Wang Haiwen, who won the 44th Florence Nightingale Medal, and Zhang Ping, and other medical workers sat down for talks with more than 50 nursing students. The Chinese nurses took the students to visit wards, surgery theaters and intensive care units.
