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Received April 20, 2020, accepted April 21, 2020, date of publication April 22, 2020

THE CHINESE EXPERIENCE - FIGHTING AGAINST 
COVID-19, SHANXI MEDICAL ENGINEERS    
By Jin Zhang,，Jiansheng Li,，Zhiyong Wu，

1 Shanxi Bethune Hospital, China.
2 Shanxi, taiyuan, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, China.

ABSTRACT
The world has witnessed as the COVID-19 pandemic has been raging wildly across China and the world. Although 

it is a war without gunpowder smoke, it is nevertheless extremely fierce. Countless medical and other front-line 
staff are fighting under grave conditions while facing the death of their patients and the need to protect themselves 
against the virus. However, against these gigantic challenges, the healthcare team stays firm in their beliefs and with 
the long-term vision of winning the war for their patients and families. In order to win this battle faster, in addition 
to the doctors, there are also a large number of clinical/medical engineers fighting on the front line! This group of 
unsung heroes wrote application letters asking to join the battle and take on assignments at the front line early on. 
They have kept working at their assignments 7 × 24. These clinical engineers appreciate the urgency of racing against 
time to expedite the commissioning and installation of new and relocated medical equipment at their hospitals. In the 
face of the epidemic, as always, they have remained at their stations in hospitals and have become the "patron saints" 
of medical equipment. Although there is a risk of infection, they do not hesitate. It is their commitment in the face of 
exhaustion that ensures the normal and safe operation of the equipment. It is their untiring belief that together we 
will wipe out this disease, unite as one, and overcome any challenges. In the end, victory will belong to us all!

Copyright © 2021. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY): Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International 
- CC BY 4.0. The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original 
publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

SHANXI BETHUNE HOSPITAL
Faced with the severe situation of a pneumonia epi-

demic from the novel coronavirus, it has become very im-
portant to triage tasks and employ workarounds to deal 
with the limited supply of protective gear with priority 
given to medical personnel and ensure that rescue and 
resuscitation equipment is in place and ready when criti-
cally needed. All the staff of the Medical Equipment and 
Materials Management (CE) program of Bethune Hospital 

in Shanxi province held fast to their posts and mobilized 
to search for resources and solutions day and night.

 “We have only one idea, no matter how great the pres-
sure, we must do our best to ensure that protective and 
disinfection materials are kept in stock and all diagnosis 
and treatment equipment operates normally,” said their 
manager.

http://www.globalce.org
http://globalce.org
http://globalce.org


Zhang,，Li, Wu: The Chinese experience - Fighting against COVID-19, Shanxi Medical Engineers

J Global Clinical Engineering, Special Issue 3, 2020  36

 In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic and 
ensure the safe use of available and much needed medical 
equipment, relevant resources were consulted and new 
protocols were organized. This included the "Guidelines 
for Disinfection of Medical Equipment (I) and (II)" links 
that were developed to guide clinical and medical de-
partments (CE personnel) on how to clean and disinfect 
medical equipment scientifically and reasonably.

This epidemic knows no boundaries, is merciless, and 
everyone is impacted to some degree. The Hubei Medical 
Aid Team from Bethune Hospital in Shanxi has continu-
ously rushed to help meet the CE needs at the front lines 
in Hubei. Members play a vanguard and exemplary role. 
Our Chinese CEs, like Jin Yue actively practice at the front 

line of this war. On February 4, he went with the Shanxi 
Provincial Emergency Medical Rescue Team to the epicenter 
of the virus in Wuhan. This is an example of a dedicated 
medical worker and a model for all healthcare workers. 

Our office has prepared a travel inventory for the 
team members going to Hubei many times. This includes 
protective clothing, head covers, various masks, goggles, 
and other decontamination products, to ensure the safety 
of the medical team members as they work.

SHANXI PROVINCIAL PEOPLE'S HOSPITAL
To establish an isolation ward as soon as possible, it was 

vital to speed up the progress and shorten construction 
time. This required the general staff of the engineering 
department of Shanxi People's Hospital to work overtime 
dismantling the old DR and install the new computed to-
mography (CT) scanner for testing for novel coronavirus. 
This is shown in the following photos.

In order to cope with the new coronavirus pneumo-
nia epidemic, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital used a 
GE 16-slice CT for the examination of patients showing 
symptoms such as fever. However, the CT had to be set 
up and operated by trained personnel who must enter 
the computer room. This led to close contact between 



37 J Global Clinical Engineering, Special Issue 3, 2020 

Zhang,，Li, Wu: The Chinese experience - Fighting against COVID-19, Shanxi Medical Engineers

the operator and the patient and increased the possi-
bility of operator infection. To solve this problem, the 
engineers of Shanxi People's Hospital carefully studied 
the environment and equipment structure, reviewed the 
operating circuits, jointly brainstormed ideas, designed 
the required additional interconnecting circuits, searched 
for and purchased the materials needed, and came up 
with a custom-built built it in-house solution. 

With the aim of not affecting the function of the CT 
equipment, the rack control panel was moved to the external 
operation room so that the operators could safely position 
themselves outside the CT room and avoid close contact 
with patients. This greatly reduced the risk of infection.

SHANXI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
With the continuous spread of the virus, the demand for 

disinfection equipment in hospitals has increased greatly. 
In order to meet this demand, the medical engineering 
(CE) team of Shanxi Children's Hospital designed and 
manufactured 60 sets of ultraviolet disinfection lamps of 
differing specifications using existing materials in com-
bination with professional characteristics and first-line 
operation specifications. This will better meet the needs 
of clinical departments during the epidemic and is shown 
in the photos below.

At present, the first batch of disinfection lamps have 
been distributed to dozens of key prevention and con-
trol departments such as emergency and respiration 

departments and comprehensive and clinical examina-
tion areas. After they are built and installed, the hospital 
will be better prepared to carry out disinfection work 
in a 3000㎡ medical area space while simultaneously 
providing strong assurance against possible coronavirus 
infection and strengthening the fight against the epidemic. 
Ultraviolet lamps can effectively disinfect the surface of 
objects by exposing them to light radiation. They can be 
reused and can be mobilized and moved between rooms 
and patient consultation areas.

This is the disinfection method recommended by the 
prevention and control guidelines issued by the National 
Health and Safety Commission. Engineers carried out 
ultraviolet intensity testing in strict accordance with medi-
cal ultraviolet disinfection requirements and formulated 
usage specifications to more comprehensively ensure the 
protection and safety of patients, family members, and 
medical personnel.

SHANXI COAL CENTRAL HOSPITAL
The epidemic situation is merciless, people everywhere 

are impacted, and sadly some succumb to the disease. In 
the face of this grave situation, Shanxi Coal Central Hos-
pital, as the protection department during the epidemic, 
has volunteered to safeguard the hospital's protection 
gear and materials. For many years CEs have been making 
continuous and silent contributions to improve patient 
care. In order to ensure that temporarily assigned on-
the-job front-line medical personnel are protected in 
place, the material support department checked inven-
tory and issued protective gear and materials in a fixed 
amount every day. It also allocated the necessary equip-
ment for the fever clinic and emergency department in 
the hospital. In addition to moving needed equipment 



Zhang,，Li, Wu: The Chinese experience - Fighting against COVID-19, Shanxi Medical Engineers

J Global Clinical Engineering, Special Issue 3, 2020  38

between locations, the medical maintenance department 
also serves as the competent on-site technical service 
support staff as shown in the photos below. They are at 
the dangerous forefront of transportation, installation, 
commissioning, and training of air purification disinfec-
tors that are urgently needed in fever clinics, respiratory 
medicine departments, emergency departments, clinical 
departments, and CT rooms.

The Clinical/Medical Engineering Committee of Shanxi 
Medical Association issued a "Proposal for Donations to 
Fight Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Together" which re-
ceived a positive response from Shanxi medical workers. 
Everyone actively participated in the charity fundraising 
activities and have made a modest contribution to the 
final victory in the fight against this disease.

Medical equipment plays an important role in the di-
agnosis and treatment processes. In order to strengthen 
the prevention and control work of medical institutions 

throughout the province, the management and the use 
of medical equipment must be more efficient during 
the prevention and control of a pneumonia epidemic 
from the novel coronavirus. This especially applies to 
the safe use, cleaning, and disinfection and control of 
large medical, first aid, and life support equipment. The 
Medical Engineering Branch of Shanxi Medical Asso-
ciation referred to the cleaning and disinfection plans of 
Philips, GE, and Murray for medical equipment during the 
epidemic. The Organization of Shanxi Province Medical 
Equipment Management Quality Control Center, Shanxi 
Medical Association Medical Engineering Professional 
Committee and Hospital Infection Experts conducted 
research, formulated, and demonstrated various cleaning 
and disinfection work plans (trial runs) to guide medical 
facilities in the diagnosis and treatment safety of medi-
cal equipment throughout the province and ensure the 
safety of medical personnel, patients and their families. 
Examples of protocols are attached below.

At present, director Zhang Jin leads all clinical/medical 
engineers in Shanxi in collaboration to help concentrate 
manpower, perform their extraordinary duties, provide 
solid backing for front-line clinical medical personnel, 
build up the cornerstone of epidemic prevention, and 
improve the required logistics support during these ab-
normal times. Under the guidance of medical engineers, 
we firmly believe that in the face of the epidemic, we will 
be able to overcome this difficulty through concerted and 
collaborative efforts. Come on, Wuhan! Come on, Shanxi! 
Come on, China!


