A first-aim rehearsal.

(Beijing, December 1) At the National Indoor Stadium these days there is a medical team consisting of a group of special volunteers for the on-going "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 Artistic Gymnastics and Trampoline Gymnastics international invitational tournaments in both orange clothes and eye-catching red-cross armbands.

The medical team is committed to providing first-aid services for all the events held at the National Indoor Stadium with medical stations set up at competition and training venues, viewing stands and athletes' residences, and providing first-aid and transportation services for accredited athletes, judges, officials, working staff and spectators.

According to medical manager Deng Mingzhuo, the medical team is made up of doctors and students from nine medical institutions including Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University and Capital Institute of Pediatrics. In view of the particularity of sports events, these doctors, mostly orthopedists and surgeons, are staffed to take care of wrench, sprain and fall, or even more serious vertebral injuries, that may happen frequently in training and competitions.

The 2007 Artistic Gymnastics and Trampoline Gymnastics international invitational tournaments are the first two events held at the newly-built National Indoor Stadium after its delivery for use. In light of the characteristics of the sports of gymnastics and trampoline, the medical team is specially equipped with such first-aid apparatuses as hard spine board and had carried out special rehearsals.

"Accuracy is the most important and speed comes next", Deng noted. "Only through repeated pre-event rehearsals can the team members come to know clearly how to cope with emergencies, work more skillfully and cooperate better with one another. Even the familiarity with the paths of competition venues may affect first-aid efficiency." Within months after the forming of the medical team, they had invited experts for regular training, including instruction in English skills in case they need to communicate with an injured foreign athlete or his team doctor.

One week before the artistic gymnastics and trampoline gymnastics international invitational tournaments the medical team had moved into the National Indoor Stadium, where they conducted first-aid rehearsals repeatedly in accordance with the standards and spared no efforts in getting well prepared for their special mission.