China's hospital ship begins treating patients in disaster-hit Tacloban

SAMAR, Philippines (Xinhua) - China's Peace Ark Hospital Ship today has already given medical aid to patients in typhoon-hit areas in central Philippines, after going into the Leyte Gulf on Sunday afternoon.

They have transferred seven heavily injured people to the hospital ship for treatment as soon as they step on the land of the disaster area, according to Chinese embassy official in Samar province where the hospital ship is moored.

Among the injured patients, three live in Tacloban, one of the worst-hit area. One had amputation operation, another patient underwent an appendectomy.

In order to optimize use of the hospital ship, the Peace Ark will set up a field hospital in the disaster area to receive patients and transfer them to the ship for further treatment. The ship is moored at Leyte Gulf about 10 nautical miles off Tacloban City, due to its huge tonnage.

The ship is also ready to treat patients transferred by local public hospitals and other foreign medical teams. At the same time, it will send epidemic prevention teams to the disaster areas to carry out anti-epidemic work.

The Peace Ark was warmly welcomed by officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and local government officials, who emphasized that the arrival of the well-equipped hospital ship is very timely.

Currently, there is only one public hospital in Leyte City with a severe lack of operating rooms and Intensive Care Units. Some injured had to be sent to other cities, even as far as Manila, for treatment.

Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) battered many central Philippine provinces, killing 5,235 people, wounding 23,501 others. Another 1,613 people remained missing.