Dr Ho Shu Fang (left), a consultant at the Emergency Department of Singapore General Hospital, went to Myanmar in early April 2025 to provide medical services to earthquake victims.  
 

Dr Ho Shu Fang shares about her first field hospital mission with Singapore Emergency Medical Team in Myanmar.

When a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck central Myanmar in late March 2025, among those who stepped forward to help was Dr Ho Shu Fang, a consultant in the Emergency Department at Singapore General Hospital.

For two intense weeks, she served in Mandalay as part of the Singapore Emergency Medical Team (SGEMT), a WHO-certified field hospital team formed by the Singapore government to provide rapid assistance locally and abroad. This was the team’s first overseas aid mission and  also Dr Shu Fang’s personal debut in humanitarian relief work.

The 34-member team includes doctors from public hospitals in Singapore, nurses, a psychologist, a physiotherapist, a clinical operator, and personnel responsible for logistics and operations.

“As an emergency medicine specialist, I believe I should be able to provide care wherever patients need it,” she says simply. Yet what awaited her in Myanmar would test more than just medical skill.

A hospital in a stadium
The 34 members on this mission set up a temporary medical facility at Bahtoo Stadium in downtown Mandalay. With only a portable ultrasound scanner, an ECG machine, and a basic blood glucose tester, every diagnosis relied heavily on clinical skill — careful history-taking, physical examination, and judgment honed over years of practice.

“It has always been my wish to treat patients in such an environment, as it can truly test my abilities as a doctor,” says Dr Shu Fang, 40.  

Without X-ray equipment, Dr Shu Fang (first from left), could only use a portable ultrasound machine with a less clear frequency to diagnose and treat fracture patients. However, this did not affect the medical team's provision of medical services to patients.

A woman with high blood pressure and difficulty breathing presented to Dr Shu Fang. Her symptoms could have been caused by a variety of factors, including fluid in the lungs due to heart failure. 

However, without the support of chest X-rays and blood tests, Dr Shu Fang and her team could only use ultrasound, medical history and physical examinations to rule out different possible causes step by step. In the end, they determined that the symptoms were due to uncontrolled high blood pressure and respiratory reactions caused by inhaling dust. 

After confirming the cause, the team prescribed the right medicine, and in just about four hours, the woman recovered and returned home without having to be admitted to a hospital. 

Says Dr Shu Fang, "This mission is full of a sense of accomplishment for me, because I know that I can still complete my work effectively and provide high-level medical services in an environment with scarce resources." 

In another case, an elderly woman crippled by severe back pain after the quake had been unable to walk for weeks. After examining her, Dr Shu Fang prescribed painkillers and referred her to a physiotherapist and a nurse for rehabilitation treatment. 

Aided by a walker and a waist support belt, she took her first steps again. “She burst into tears, thinking she’d never walk again,” recalls Dr Shu Fang. “For us, it was a simple intervention. For her, it was life changing.”

The courage of strangers
Dr Shu Fang was struck not only by the medical challenges but also by the resilience of Myanmar’s people. Two moments, in particular, stayed with her.

The first was a little monk, only four or five years old, who had broken his forearm from a fall. When he walked into Dr Shu Fang 's clinic, although there were tears in the corners of his eyes, his expression was still calm. 

"His bones were broken and his hand was deformed. When I checked him with ultrasound, he didn't cry or make a fuss. I wondered if he was born with this deformity, but upon closer inspection, I confirmed that it was a recent fracture.” 

“Even when we were straightening the bones in his hand and putting a cast on it, he didn’t shed a tear or even utter a groan.” 

The second was a monk in his forties who had fallen from a two-story balcony. Dr Shu Fang explained that in the Emergency Department, falls from height are treated as serious trauma cases. The team immediately provided him with basic anaesthesia, and conducted a comprehensive trauma assessment. Fortunately, his life was not in danger and he only suffered a fractured femur in his left thigh. 

"During the treatment, we had to use force to align and stabilize the fracture, which was extremely painful in itself. However, he still did not make any sound, frown or tremble,” says Dr Shu Fang, still amazed. "In my entire career as an emergency doctor in my public hospital in Singapore, I have never seen such stoicism. Having broken bones myself, I know the pain. This has given me a whole new level of awe for human resilience." 

Long, gruelling hours
“The mission was gruelling. Each day began at 6am, with the team working nonstop from 8am to 7pm, with a lunch break. Patients queued patiently in the hot sun, and the team pressed on, determined not to turn anyone away,” shares Dr Shu Fang.

The patients queuing patiently in the hot sun to see Dr Shu Fang and her team.

In just one week, they saw more than 1,800 patients — far exceeding their initial estimate of 100 a day. A third of the cases were direct earthquake injuries like fractures, while a fifth were indirectly related, such as infections from mosquito bites. Half were patients with chronic diseases who had lost access to medication and care.

Challenges beyond medicine
Getting to the disaster zone was no simple feat. After landing in Yangon, the team flew domestically and drove for hours, detouring around damaged roads and closed airports. Upon arrival in Mandalay, they worked with local authorities to set up tents and supplies at Bahtoo Stadium.

Half of the 34-member Singapore emergency medical team are women, but this did not prevent the team from performing tasks, including setting up and dismantling 250 kg tents.

But nature had more tests in store. A violent rainstorm with 20-knot winds blew away a 250-kg tent, forcing the team to rebuild their medical post the next morning.

The team rebuilding the medical area after the storm.

 “In the days that followed, we worked in the scorching 39°C heat, cooling ourselves with ice-filled gloves and iced coffee and tea made by SGEMT colleagues from Singapore company ST Engineering,” says Dr Shu Fang. “This is what it means to be right in the heart of a disaster area.”

SGEMT colleagues from Singapore company ST Engineering keeping the team perky with tea and coffee

Reflections after the mission
Looking back, Dr Shu Fang feels the mission reaffirmed her calling as a doctor. “Medicine is not an easy career. The training is tough — for juniors and seniors alike. But all this training that has toughened me up puts me in a position to deliver quality care. Now I am able to go out and do good, be it to share my knowledge, to help with capacity building projects, or disaster relief missions.”