Shi Wei, an emergency room doctor at Shanghai's Baoshan Hospital, still dreams about his toughest days in Wuhan during the peaks of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Infected patients were dying every day when he first set foot in what was then the COVID-19 epicenter in early 2020. A state of mind combining frustration with being perplexed comes back to him in dreams and interrupts his sleep.

Shi, deputy director of the emergency department at Baoshan Hospital, was among the first batch of Shanghai medics rushed to Wuhan to fight the virus on January 24, 2020, the eve of Chinese New Year.

The situation began improving after about two weeks once doctors and experts in medical teams from across the country gradually gained an understanding of what they were dealing with and worked out effective therapies.

During his 68 days in Wuhan's Jinyintan Hospital, which handled a large number of patients in serious condition, Shi worked day and night in the emergency ward to save people's lives. Some of them recovered thanks to the efforts of Shi and his colleagues, but many others did not.

"I always recall and feel regretful for the failed cases," said Shi. "Some will stay in my mind forever and drive me to improve my skills."

Shi, 41, was awarded the honor of Shanghai's "Excellent Party Member" in July 2021 for his contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 and for his dedication and perseverance over nearly two decades in the most challenging job in the emergency department.

A qualified ER practitioner must be familiar with all medical disciplines to deal with all kinds of emergencies. They often have to work overtime and respond to the calls of patients at anytime. To Shi, the most important quality to be an ER doctor is to have a kind heart open to the patients.

He has declined multiple promotion opportunities that would involve less stressful work and a higher salary, despite the persuasions of his wife and parents.

"I just want to save people's lives," he said. "Rescuing people in the emergency room is far more meaningful to me than to work in an office," he added.

Shi was determined to become a doctor after watching as a young boy his grandfather suffering from chronic bronchitis. He passed away in a county hospital which lacked key medical apparatus, such as a breathing machine, in his hometown in Haimen, neighboring Jiangsu Province, in 1994.

He enrolled in the Naval Medical University in Shanghai, one of the country's best medical schools, to fulfill his aspirations. After graduating in 2003, he began working in the emergency department of Baoshan Hospital.

"The faces of the suffering seniors often remind me about my own grandparents," he said.

He often accompanies patients in serious condition to do their CT scanning, regardless of the radiation. In the course of one night, he once wrote over 100 prescriptions and rescued four people, despite suffering from his own severe gastric condition.

Even after some patients were discharged, he would pay frequent visits to guide their rehabilitation.

Shi bought an apartment in a community close to Baoshan Hospital so that he could quickly get to the emergency room at anytime when needed.

"Shi once told me that even if our home was on fire, it was more important for him to work in the emergency room," his wife said.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, Shi planned to visit his hometown to spend his birthday and Spring Festival with family relatives on Chinese New Year eve. Shortly after the family banquet began, he received an urgent call from the head of the hospital to rush immediately to Wuhan.

He left the dining table and drove directly to Hongqiao International Airport for a charter flight to Wuhan. "My mother and other female relatives began crying in fear of my safety," Shi recalled.

Shi's mom cried whenever she heard the epidemic news from Wuhan. His daughter often asked when he could come back. Nobody knew the answer by then, he recalled.

A total of 1,649 Shanghai medical professionals were dispatched to Wuhan in 2020 when it was the epicenter of the COVID-19 battle. Some even wrote "posthumous" letters to families or colleagues, including Shi, who battled on in his most familiar but also most dangerous front, the ER.

"Please take care of my parents, wife and daughters, because the future of the trip is unforeseeable," Shi wrote to his best friend before catching the flight to Wuhan.

Shi said he gained courage and strength when flight attendants and shuttle bus drivers from Wuhan called the Baoshan Hospital team their long-awaited saviors.

His training at Baoshan Hospital helped Shi to cope with many challenging tasks at Jinyintan Hospital, including the team's first deep vein catheterization that saved the life of a 60-year-old female patient in serious condition.

The treatment is comparatively common but became challenging for doctors and staff wearing thick hazmat suits and misty goggles. The patient was anxious and needed to be calmed.

Most of the other doctors were reluctant to do the catheterization, but then Shi stepped forward, said Zhao Bo, leader of the Baoshan medical team to Wuhan.

"It involved great risk because the needle could have broken the hazmat suit and exposed the doctor to the coronavirus," Zhao recalled.

"I was touched by Shi's courage and spirit," he added.

Shi inspired the young doctors and nurses from Shanghai who were under great pressure in Wuhan. "I told them we are here to save lives and there is no meaning to fear," Shi said.

The death rate of patients in the ER ward of Jinyintan Hospital started to drop sharply thanks to the work of the Shanghai medics, falling from several deaths a day to zero.

Some therapies combining traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine played a key role during the treatment, he said.

"I've learnt a lot from many famous doctors during the battle of Wuhan," Shi said. "The experience was priceless to me," he added.

After returning to Baoshan Hospital, Shi has become a member of its COVID-19 experts' team, diagnosing and screening suspected COVID-19 cases. Sometimes, he works overnight dealing with patients in intensive care units and people with suspected coronavirus symptoms.

"Shanghai and the hospital offer me a great platform and have enabled me to settle down in the city," he said.