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Klaudia Lee

The long-term care and psychological well-being of injured earthquake victims are the prime concerns for the Hong Kong Red Cross, which has opened a Prosthetic and Orthopaedic Centre in Deyang , one of the quake-hit cities in Sichuan .
Peter Tsang Wing-hon,  a prosthesis specialist at the centre, said some patients might have left hospital before their wounds were totally healed.  'Some may feel unhappy when staying at a hospital outside their home province. Another reason is that the hospitals simply do not have enough money to run long-term rehabilitation services,' said Dr Tsang.
Many patients returning to Sichuan after receiving treatment  outside the province are also struggling to find a place to have regular check-ups.
This is a particular  problem  for amputees with new prosthetic limbs,   who need constant assessments  in the first three months after the prosthesis is fitted  to gauge its suitability.
Unlike in  Hong Kong, where  patients would have regular follow-up checks  after being discharged from hospital, there is no such system on the mainland,  said Wilson Wong Mok-fai,  deputy secretary general of the Hong Kong Red Cross, during a recent visit to the Deyang centre.
The  centre is funded and operated by the  Hong Kong Red Cross in co-operation with the Deyang Disabled Persons Federation,  and  Mr Wong said they hoped the centre would act as a model for other mainland organisations to follow.
The centre is running on a five-year basis with a 50 million yuan (HK$57.07 million) grant.
The centre provides a range of services from prosthesis fitting,  physical and occupational therapy and  psychological support, to community integration and vocational training.
While Hong Kong volunteers and medical experts provided the initial impetus,  Mr Wong stressed that their goal was to train  the local staff so that the centre would be self-sustaining in the future.
Aside from the physical injuries, there is also the issue of  survivors' psychological well-being.
Liu Qiwen , a psychologist in Sichuan who visited various parts of the quake zone to provide counselling services in the immediate aftermath, said many survivors with whom he was in contact had developed suicidal tendencies.
'The disaster was just too huge. Not only should we care for the injured but also for the healthy ones because they also suffered a lot from the loss of their beloved ones,' Dr Liu said. 'In China, this field [psychology] doesn't receive much attention because people simply don't attach importance to it. Because of this, both the status and salaries for people in this field are also lower than others, so it's a kind of vicious cycle.'
Immediately after the quake, hordes of volunteers rushed to the quake-hit areas not only to help with rescue and relief work but also to provide psychological counselling. While their help was appreciated, their lack of training was a concern.
Kitty Wu Kit-ying,  a Hong Kong Red Cross honorary consultant on psychological services, who recently visited the Deyang centre to provide training to dozens of volunteers, said it was very important for volunteers to understand their own limitations and to refer patients to psychiatric experts if they could not handle the situation.



HK team tries to fill gap in rehab and counselling services