Recently, the "Emergency Medicine Training Program for Five Central Asian Countries", sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, applied for and coordinated by the National Research Center for Emergency Medicine (Emergency General Hospital), and undertaken by the Academy of International Business Officials of the Ministry of Commerce, concluded successfully in Beijing. A total of 31 officials in emergency medicine from Kyrgyzstan and other countries completed a 14-day intensive training program, marking a new step forward in cooperation between China and Central Asian countries in the field of emergency medical rescue.

The training program was designed to implement the Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing the China-Central Asia Emergency Management Cooperation Mechanism and the Belt and Road Emergency Management Training Program for 1,000 Personnel. It aims to advance the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, facilitate the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, build a platform for exchange and cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries in emergency rescue, and join hands to foster a closer China-Central Asia Community with a Shared Future. To deepen the participants’ understanding of China’s distinctive emergency medicine system, the National Emergency Medicine Research Center specially designed a theoretical curriculum covering the development of China’s emergency medicine system, the cultivation and training of professional talent teams, the organization and coordination of cross-border emergency medical rescue operations, emergency psychology, China’s humanitarian traditions, and the application of traditional Chinese medicine in emergency medicine. In the meantime, study visits were arranged to venues including the National Southwest Regional Emergency Rescue Center and Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, where the officials gained first-hand knowledge of the development history and construction experience of China’s distinctive emergency rescue system.

At the training ground of the National Southwest Regional Emergency Rescue Center, the officials observed on-site training exercises such as search and rescue dog obedience training, box search and rescue operations, building collapse demolition and rescue, firefighters’ psychological behavior training, integrated air-ground operations for forest fire suppression, cliff climbing, cable car rescue and high-altitude rappelling. Through immersive experience of these rescue scenarios, the officials were deeply impressed by the professional and scientific rescue capabilities demonstrated by the firefighters during the training.

This training program, which promotes exchanges through expertise and pursues development through cooperation, has injected new impetusemergency medicine cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. During the classes, the officials shared with great emotion a poem displayed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York: “All human beings are of one root, inherently part of a single whole. If one limb suffers pain, how can the others rest easy?”

Looking ahead, the National Emergency Medicine Research Center will adhere to an international perspective, actively participate in global initiatives aimed at enhancing emergency medical rescue capabilities, and make greater contributions to supporting China’s emergency management cause and advancing the development of the Belt and Road international cooperation mechanism for natural disaster prevention and emergency management.