Medical emergencies are always a race against time. That's why Muyassar Nijat, director of the first-aid center of the People's Hospital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Urumqi, describes her daily work as "fast and furious".

Every morning, upon her arrival at the hospital, Muyassar reviews how the night shift got on the previous night. She then identifies the more serious cases in urgent need of treatment, coordinates work among different departments, attends group consultations with experts to diagnose strange diseases and ensures the nonstop, smooth operation of outpatient services and the first-aid green channel. She stays at the hospital until 10 pm on most days and is on call around the clock.

Following China's downgrading of COVID-19 management on Jan 8, the country's prevention and control efforts focused on protecting health and preventing severe cases.

Facing a sudden surge of patients, Muyassar and her team devised efficient procedures and replenished medical equipment and COVID-19 drugs in advance.

"All the departments at our hospital worked to ease the rising stress on outpatient services," she said. "We aimed to prevent high-risk cases from becoming seriously ill and guarantee the timely treatment of each patient."

Training grassroots medical workers is also high on her agenda.

She and her team train more than 4,000 grassroots medical workers every year.

"A large number of medical service institutions across the country lack a stable team of staff equipped with emergency treatment abilities," she said.

Muyassar has been improving her academic influence and creating a better environment for the future growth of younger doctors for over 27 years. She has taken part in projects for the National Natural Science Foundation of China and been invited to attend many domestic and international academic forums.

Recently, a four-day camp training 120 grassroots medical workers from 14 prefectures across the region on pandemic prevention and control was run by Muyassar's team.

"Through the training, their ability to detect patients at risk of developing severe cases can be improved," she said.

Last year, she was selected as a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. "Nothing but saving lives can give me such a strong sense of achievement," she said.