A Catholic parish in Shanghai’s Jinshan District has launched a series of measures to protect parishioners from the summer heat.
Fr. Li Yanjun of Yanchibang Parish recently organized the procurement of medical kits to help ensure the health and safety of churchgoers amid persistent high temperatures in July.
The priest, joined by more than a dozen young parishioners, visited several pharmacies despite the sweltering heat to gather summer first-aid essentials, including herbal remedies, medicated balm, heart-relief pills, antiseptics, cooling packs, thermometers, gauze, and bandages, following the guidelines of the Chinese Family Emergency Medicine Manual.
According to Jinshan District Catholic Patriotic Association, the team prepared eight three-layer aluminum alloy medical kits, placing them at the entrances of parish sites.
Each box carries a bilingual red cross label stating “Free for Emergency Use.”
The parish also invited Red Cross first aid instructor Zhang Liang to serve as “Parish Volunteer First Aid Officer.”
After Sunday Mass, she conducted a “Golden Four Minutes” emergency training for parish leaders, demonstrating “cardiopulmonary resuscitation, airway obstruction relief, bleeding control and bandaging, [and] heatstroke treatment” step-by-step.
It was agreed that on the first Sunday of every month, all kits would be opened for inspection, medicines nearing expiration would be replaced a month in advance, and any missing items would be replenished immediately.
The Jinshan District Catholic Patriotic Association said it “will continue to cooperate with the parish priest to ensure safe summer conditions in all parish sites, adopting multiple measures to cope with the extreme heat.”
