PLA Daily 2003-06-11

　　Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital: Six camouflage-painted tankers drew everyone's attention when they suddenly started spraying disinfectant. The spray of disinfectant covered the road completely. Less than twenty minutes later, the tankers left the hospital area and moved to the next disinfecting area.

　　The disinfecting mission mentioned above was performed by the emergency team of the PLA Anti-Chemical Command & Engineering College. It was the 77th time the team carried out such special mission.

　　According to a leader of the college, the tankers (disinfectant spray vehicles) and the disinfectant used by the emergency team were part of the college's scientific research products for SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) prevention. The disinfectant, which meets the national standard, is recommended by experts as the first choice for SARS prevention and control.

　　During the SARS period, this emergency team could be seen in many SARS-affected areas in Beijing. Very often officers and men had to work for over 10 hours a day and sometimes throughout the night.

　　For the past month the emergency team has disinfected nearly 100 public venues and units, including Wangfujing, Xidan, the People's Hospital and the Xiaotangshan Hospital,etc, covering about six million square meters of disinfecting areas. In addition, the crew also disinfected more than 1,600 airplanes for six airlines.

　　The emergency team is on SARS alert 24 hours a day. Since most of the disinfecting missions were in the populous downtown area, the crew usually disinfects the suburb areas at daytime and downtown at night, so as not to disturb activities of the general public.

　　The disinfectant is harmful to plants, and erodes marble and granite, therefore soldiers practiced hard to drive the tankers skillfully and precisely after work. Eventually, they could manage to spray the disinfectant in a straight line and not a single drop of disinfectant was sprayed on plants or structures along the roadside.

　　The protective suit the crew must wear is airtight and the gas masks make them feel dizzy and vomit after wearing a long time, and the disinfectant, which contains bleach, can penetrate uniforms, socks and even skin. In spite of all these, the soldiers of the emergency team overcome many difficulties and endure numerous hardships, and have successfully completed every task. In hard-to-reach areas, the crew uses manual operated spray guns or even wash basins to spread disinfectant.

　　(June 11, PLA Daily)