Nation mobilized in quake relief, volunteers hindered by high altitude
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Wang Na, an employee with popular website Tianya, initiated a donation campaign online immediately after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck China's Qinghai Province early Wednesday.
"The quake-hit area urgently needs bottled water, instant noodles, cotton-padded quilts, clothes, tents, flashlights, anti-inflammatory drugs and other medicines," said the notice on Tianya which drew more than 600 responses from netizens within one day after its posting.
"Goods and materials can help quake victims in a more direct and effective way," Wang told Xinhua on Thursday, adding any goods donated will be sent to Qinghai by transport companies as soon as possible.
It is the second time Wang and her company have launched a quake relief campaign, which has been nicknamed "Tianya Love Express."
They managed to deliver more than 1,300 boxes of donated medicine, food and clothes after a 8.0-magnitude quake devastated parts of southwestern Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.
As with the Sichuan quake, the whole nation has mobilized to help with relief work after the quake killed at least 617, injured 9,110 and left hundreds missing.
While rescuers and medical workers are racing against time to save lives in the quake-hit area, millions of netizens around the country hope to help with the relief effort in their own way.
Tens of thousands of netizens mourned the quake victims with postings and flowers in virtual mourning halls on several websites.
Some netizens said they had donated money or goods to local Red Cross societies, while many online postings on popular forums inquired about the best way to donate.
"What we need most now is medicine, especially anti-inflammatory drugs, large-scale equipment like cranes and lifters, and warm clothing," Ma Lin, a staff worker from the Jinba Charity Assistance of Yushu Prefecture, told Xinhua on Thursday.
The 7.1-magnitude quake struck Yushu County in Yushu Prefecture at 7:49 a.m. Wednesday at a depth of about 33 km, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
Some netizens wanted to volunteer in Qinghai, as hundreds of thousands of volunteers had in Sichuan two years earlier.
"I am a student at a medical school in Chengdu [capital of Sichuan Province], and I want to help medical workers in Qinghai," said a netizen with the handle "Not an early bird."
However, as Yushu lies on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at an altitude of over 4,000 meters, volunteer rescuers must be physically fit to withstand the altitude sickness, otherwise they may be a burden rather than a help, officials and netizens said.
"The conditions in Qinghai are different from Sichuan. Think twice about altitude sickness before you leave and be fully prepared," said netizen "Gou Bao".
Due to the high altitude environment, freezing conditions and the area's narrow terrain, the Qinghai provincial quake relief headquarters on Thursday issued a notice urging volunteers not to rush to the quake-hit area in large numbers.
Rescue forces and materials are continually entering the area and the disaster-relief work is proceeding smoothly, the notice said.
"Altitude is a big problem and so volunteers must have good health. We would prefer them to contact us first and wait for an organized dispatch instead of acting alone," Cao Shouwan, an official with the Qinghai provincial committee of the Communist Youth League, told Xinhua on Thursday.
"We are in great need of volunteers specializing in health and medicine, such as hospital staff and medical school students," Cao said.
Wang Na also asked volunteers heading to Qinghai to inform her of the latest information.
"I hope volunteers can tell us what the most necessary things are to help the victims. So many people want to help, and they need to know how."
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