Boy in critical condition gets police escort to ICU

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A Chinese boy in a life-threatening condition has won the race against the clock and made it to hospital before it was too late thanks to an epic police escort and the coordinated efforts of police officers, traffic controllers, netizens and motorists.

The 13-year-old boy was suffering from severe brain injuries and multiple fractures following a car accident while on a trip in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

He needed to be transferred to Beijing for treatment, some 500 kilometers away from the hospital where he was.

BTMB staff monitor the situation and coordinate with on-the-ground officers to make way for the ambulance. /Weibo Screenshot

Because of his critical condition, the boy could not be airlifted, leaving rescuers with no other option but to drive him to the hospital.

The trip would normally take seven hours, but it took the ambulance a little over four and a half hours to reach its destination thanks to a plan devised to open the road in front of the ambulance using pleas on social media and close coordination with Beijing Traffic Management Bureau (BTMB).

Security footage by the BTMB shows the ambulance being escorted by police cars on the highway. /Weibo Screenshot

The young patient, only identified as an eighth grader from Beijing, was in critical condition and reportedly had part of his skull removed in a procedure medically known as craniotomy after being hit by a car in Inner Mongolia.

He was in desperate need of advanced medical help in Beijing, and was placed on life support as the rescue team set off from the Inner Mongolia People's Hospital to the Beijing Tiantan Hospital around 5:14 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

The rescue crew didn't encounter heavy traffic after entering Beijing thanks to those involved in clearing the way. /Weibo Screenshot

The crew avoided Beijing's notorious traffic jam thanks to traffic police, which dispatched four units to mobilize the traffic and cleared the road for the ambulance.

The BTMB also updated in real time every leg of the journey publishing 20 posts on China's Twitter-like Weibo of the convoy's movement and urging drivers to make way for the ambulance.

BTMB staff monitors the traffic. /Weibo Screenshot

The repeated pleas caught the attention of social media users, with netizens and drivers taking part in spreading the posts across different platforms to inform a larger crowd about the ongoing operation.

The BTMB message asking drivers to make way for the ambulance is shared on different social media platforms. /Weibo Screenshot

The boy finally arrived at the ICU of Beijing Tiantan Hospital around 10:36 a.m. local time.

His mother hopes he could gain consciousness soon to thank those involved in saving his life, Shanghai-based The Paper reported.