At the end of May, cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 were firstly reported in Guangzhou, China, which called for a large-scale nucleic acid sampling and testing in the whole city. In response to the emergent need, a large number of student volunteers from Southern Medical University (SMU) were quickly recruited.
At 13:30 on June 5, 2021, a brief launch ceremony was held at the Cultural Center on campus before the first team of volunteers set off for work. At the ceremony, volunteers expressed their strong will to prevent the Delta variant from spreading in Guangzhou. The first team comprising 220 student volunteers, including 120 medical graduates, were dispatched to aid the large-scale nucleic acid sampling and testing work in local communities of Baiyun District, Guangzhou.
On June 4, only one day before the launch ceremony, the university board of management held an emergency meeting and decided to recruit volunteers from the graduating class and graduate students to aid the large-scale nucleic acid sampling in the city. The volunteer recruitment initiative was immediately responded by a large number of medical students at SMU. Some 1,500 students and 45 student counselors actively signed up for the initiative overnight, and 220 out of them were selected to form the first team to aid the nucleic acid sampling and testing work in the city.
On the morning of the June 5, Chairman Chen Minsheng of SMU inspected the logistical support for the first team of volunteers, stressing the importance of proper organization, strict training and self-protection in the medical service. President Li Mengfeng of SMU made some specific requirements for the volunteers, asking them to ensure their self-protection and do an efficient job in throat swab collection and the like.
On June 5, some 100 volunteers attended the launch ceremony, assembling in less than half an hour. “The first student anti-epidemic service team has assembled, please give your instructions!” The captain of the team reported to Jiang Hong, Deputy Chairman of SMU, who attended the ceremony on behalf of the university management. Deputy Chairman Jiang gave the instructions and made some brief remarks. He pointed out that in the face of the epidemic, the students of SMU enthusiastically signed up as volunteers, demonstrating the medical students’ social responsibility and humanistic care in the noble tradition of the university. He also added that volunteers should be ready to take the glorious mission and do a great job ahead, and that they should also pay attention to their self-protection and stay safe.
At the end of the ceremony, Deputy Chairman Jiang passed the university flag as well as the volunteers’ flag to the captain of the team. All attendees made a pledge to play an active role in preventing the epidemic from spreading.
At the testing site, the fully-armed volunteers were quickly engaged in their work, with each having his/her niches. For instance, some volunteers were collecting throat swabs, maintaining the order and/or instructing people to wear their masks correctly, while others were guiding people in information registration and/or giving consulting services. It is also worth noting that volunteers were also providing professional psychological counseling for those with high levels of anxiety and panic, and that their professional advice helped people a lot in staying calm and boosting their confidence in defeating the epidemic.
As a footnote, there were some basic recruitment requirements for student volunteers, including, for example, (1) no recent history of entering or exiting areas with high or medium risk of the epidemic, (2) no history of contact with confirmed or suspected patients, (3) no cold, fever, cough, difficulty breathing or other symptoms of incompatibility, and (4) the vaccinated first.
To ensure the volunteers’ personal safety and fulfil their tasks, the university management had arranged some basic training in throat swab collection and the like before they were dispatched to work. For instance, Du Qingfeng, Director of the Hospital Management Department, conducted a volunteer training and mobilization, among some others. During the voluntary service, the university also provided volunteers with professional guidance, personal protection and other material support to help them fulfil their tasks.
