Airport staff protects safety of Shenyang people

A staff member wearing protective clothing at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport disinfects an aircraft cabin. [Photo/Shenyang Daily]

The top airport official was unshakeable in his conviction and his commitment: “We are the gatekeepers of Shenyang city and when an epidemic breaks out, we should be the first to rush into the battle,” he said.

Those resolute sentiments were expressed in a recent interview by Luo Shigang, director of training of the emergency rescue center at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport.

Since Jan 22, when the airport declared war on the novel coronavirus, Luo and other Party members at the center have pulled out all the stops to prevent and control its spread in the capital and largest city of China’s northeastern Liaoning province.

Luo stayed at the airport, engaged in urgent prevention work for a whole week since Jan 22, and every day he only took a brief time out to have a video chat with his family, mainly reporting his safety.

The center’s staff and officials don’t talk about pay and work overtime while on the front line, focused instead entirely on preventing and controlling the epidemic, Luo said.

“I am a Party member and of course I should fight on the front line,” Luo added.

Since Jan 22, all passengers at the airport are required to have body temperature measurements, which is part of the vital work being performed by Luo and his colleagues.

In addition, they need to disinfect terminals, canteens, apartments and other areas.

Even with 25 years of work experience in emergency rescues under his belt, Luo said he saw the epidemic as an unprecedented challenge due to its urgency and severity.

Discussing the hardships, Luo said his greatest worry was that his colleagues would be infected.

At the beginning of epidemic, protective clothing was in shortage, so Luo shared his clothing to his colleagues, which he thought was the right thing to do as a Party member.