Recently, China's independently designed and built 10,000-ton ocean-going hospital ship "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" conducted health support drills in a certain sea area of the Yellow Sea to test the overall training level of the ship and temper the ability of officers and soldiers to carry out various medical rescue tasks. This is her first appearance.

According to CCTV News, the Navy's "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship with hull number 868 is the third 10,000-ton ocean-going hospital ship independently designed and built by China.

In this exercise, the medical staff drawn from various departments including internal medicine, surgery, emergency care, etc., participated. After receiving a distress signal, the "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship immediately headed to the incident area for rescue operations. At the exercise site, the medical team urgently transported casualties to the triage area, quickly assessed their injuries, and provided hemostasis, bandaging, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Medical personnel also activated various treatment plans based on different "injuries," rapidly completing surgical preparations. Additionally, the "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship simultaneously conducted medical outreach activities, bringing diagnosis and health services to grassroots soldiers.

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Dai Zhenfeng, a representative of the "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship, said that the ship is equipped with advanced equipment and comprehensive functions. The entire military hospital can rely on the platform advantage to provide professional medical services, delivering high-quality medical services wherever the hospital ship sails.

"Ji Xiang Fang Zhou": The Latest Large Hospital Ship in China

Prior to this, the People's Navy already had two ocean-going hospital ships, "He Ping Fang Zhou" and "Si Lu Fang Zhou." The Navy's "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship is equipped with advanced medical and health equipment and experienced medical personnel. During wartime, it can provide early-stage treatment and partial specialized treatment for wounded personnel; during peacetime, it can execute maritime medical rescue missions, providing medical services to naval fleets and troops stationed on distant islands and reefs, and can also undertake international humanitarian relief missions.

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As the latest and most advanced hospital ship in China, the "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" is equipped with more advanced devices and a more complete functional layout. It is equipped with advanced medical and health equipment and experienced medical personnel, including 8 operating rooms, 2 thousand-level clean operating rooms, and 6 ten-thousand-level clean operating rooms. Liu Haiyan of the "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" stated that the operating room layout is reasonable, the instruments are advanced, and they can meet the needs of various emergency surgeries.

In addition, according to the Beijing Daily, the "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship has also installed a gene amplification (PCR) laboratory and expanded isolation wards, enabling the hospital ship to have batch detection, diagnosis, and reception capabilities for infectious disease patients.

The "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship not only has outstanding advantages in field surgery, efficiently handling batch explosion injuries, burns, etc., but can also provide early-stage treatment and partial specialized treatment for casualties at sea. In peacetime, the ship can execute maritime medical rescue missions, providing medical services to naval fleets and troops stationed on distant islands and reefs; during wartime, it can quickly respond and address trauma and infection cases caused by sudden natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, playing an important role in international humanitarian relief efforts.

Ocean-going Hospital Ships: "Lifeboats" Sailing Across the Seas

As modern floating hospitals at sea, the People's Navy's ocean-going hospital ships are affectionately called "White Ships" and "Lifeboats" by people in different countries and regions.

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In late 2008, the "He Ping Fang Zhou" hospital ship joined the East Sea Fleet of the People's Navy, making China one of the few countries in the world to have a professional ocean-going hospital ship. She is also the world's first hospital ship specifically designed and manufactured for conducting maritime medical rescues. Over the past 17 years, the "He Ping Fang Zhou" hospital ship has primarily carried out its mission under the "Harmonious Mission" series, traveling abroad 12 times, visiting 52 countries and regions, serving over 370,000 people, and sailing across three oceans and six continents, earning her the title of "Lifeboat" sailing across the seas.

In July 2023, the "He Ping Fang Zhou" arrived in Tonga, providing medical services for 6,895 people over a 7-day period, performing 39 surgeries including removal of large skin tumors, cholecystectomy, cataract removal, and artificial lens implantation.

In August 2024, the South African Citizen reported that the "He Ping Fang Zhou" had treated more than 1,300 patients locally and performed 17 cataract surgeries.

In July 2024, the People's Navy's new ocean-going hospital ship "Si Lu Fang Zhou" set sail for medical consultations in Southwest and South China Sea islands and reefs. The "Si Lu Fang Zhou" is the second 10,000-ton class ocean-going hospital ship independently designed and built by China, mainly tasked with maritime casualty medical rescue and evacuation, providing medical consultations for island residents and naval troops, executing international humanitarian medical services, major disaster emergency medical rescue, and foreign military medical exchanges and cooperation.

Both ships possess relatively flexible mobility capabilities and multiple transfer methods, allowing them to quickly transport medical personnel and supplies ashore via helicopter or ambulance boat without docking conditions, or transfer casualties to land-based hospitals for medical treatment using similar methods.

Expert Interpretation: Three Naval Fleets Have Deployed Hospital Ships

Military experts analyzed that this debut indicates that the "Ji Xiang Fang Zhou" hospital ship has joined the North Sea Fleet of the navy. Strategic deployment of hospital ships has been achieved in the eastern, southern, and northern major naval fleets. Meanwhile, the People's Navy's three 10,000-ton hospital ships are all specially manufactured, with high technological content and comprehensive functions, equivalent to the level of a tertiary Class A hospital.

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Naval expert Cao Weidong said: Since we have hospital ships in all three fleets, they can be deployed in different directions. For example, when executing military missions simultaneously, each fleet has such hospital ships for support. Secondly, when the intensity of warfare or military actions increases in a certain direction, we can deploy all three hospital ships to one direction. Since we have three, we can reach farther places, such as our naval personnel on escort duties in the Gulf of Aden can also receive hospital ship support. The scattered islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands can be covered by ships for medical support of troops in different directions.

Speaking of advanced features, what is the standard for hospitals? According to our country's best hospitals, which are tertiary Class A hospitals, these are the hardware conditions; moreover, the doctors we send out are experts from large hospitals like the Navy General Hospital, and their medical skills are excellent.

The hospital ship serves the army, supports combat operations, and contributes to national defense construction, which is its primary task. During other times, it can provide medical services to nearby developing countries and their local military and civilians. Not only does it escort and combat piracy, ensuring maritime channel security, but it also treats local residents, demonstrating China's role as a major country, acting as a peace envoy and a friendship envoy.

(Observation Network exclusively compiled from reports by the CCTV News Client, Beijing Daily Client, and other publicly available materials)

This article is an exclusive contribution from the Observation Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506750468232643083/

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