Nurses Shield Newborns as Earthquake Rocks Hospital

When a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar on March 28, 2025, its tremors were felt far beyond the epicenter. In Ruili City, China, near the Myanmar border, surveillance cameras captured an amazing moment of nurse bravery and professionalism.

Quick Actions Save Lives

Inside a maternity center, as the building shook violently, two nurses prioritized their tiny patients over their own safety. Nurse Xiong Jielan dropped to her knees, cradling an infant and using her body as a shield. Her colleague, Li Xiaoqing, secured other newborns in their bassinets, gripping the cots to prevent them from tipping over.

Xiong told reporters: “There was no time to react. I just wanted to protect my colleague and the babies. The shaking was too strong. The baby was scared, so I kept saying, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ to comfort him.”

The footage shows the nurses maintaining their protective positions for nearly a minute as ceiling fixtures swayed and items fell. Despite the danger, neither nurse sought shelter until all infants were secured.

Nurses Trained for Crisis

The nurses swift action prevented any injury to the infants under their care. The moment has gone viral in China and worldwide. But healthcare workers familiar with disaster scenarios know this kind of courage isn’t rare—it’s part of the job.

These nurses:

• Responded immediately without hesitation
• Prioritized patient safety over personal risk
• Relied on training to guide their actions

For many in the nursing community, it’s a reminder of how vital emergency preparedness is—not just for large urban hospitals, but for every clinical setting.

Quake Felt Across Southeast Asia

The Myanmar earthquake, one of the strongest in the region in recent years, caused widespread shaking across Southeast Asia.

• Hospital Damage: At least three hospitals have been completely destroyed, and 22 others are partially damaged, rendering them barely functional. This has severely limited the ability to provide adequate care to the injured.
• Overwhelmed Facilities: Hospitals in cities like Mandalay and Naypyitaw are inundated with patients, with some being treated in parking lots due to overcrowding. A shortage of medical supplies, including blood transfusion materials and essential medicines, has further exacerbated the crisis.
• Emergency Response Challenges: The destruction of roads, bridges, and communication networks has hampered rescue efforts and delayed the delivery of critical medical aid. International organizations like WHO and Project HOPE are mobilizing resources, including trauma kits and emergency medical teams, to support overwhelmed facilities.

 

The earthquake has exposed the fragility of Myanmar's healthcare system, which is now facing an urgent need for trauma care, surgical supplies, and mental health support amidst ongoing aftershocks and extreme temperatures.

Lessons for Neonatal Nurses

For neonatal nurses, this incident reinforces the critical importance of emergency preparedness. According to the International Council of Nurses' disaster response guidelines, staff caring for vulnerable populations like newborns should receive specialized training for various emergency scenarios, including earthquakes. For instance, these nurses knew to stabilize the bassinets rather than attempting evacuation first.

For nursing professionals worldwide, these images serve as a powerful reminder of nursing's core values: courage, commitment, and unwavering dedication to patient safety—even when the ground beneath them is literally shaking.

🤔 Have you received earthquake or other disaster response training at your hospital? Tell us your thoughts in the discussion forum below.