The dangers of overworking: Cardiologist coughs up blood after 32-hour shift

In Shanghai, a 30-year-old cardiologist surnamed Zhang was seen coughing up blood five times in ten minutes, losing more than 4 pints of blood after working for 32 hours straight at a hospital in April this year. The surveillance footage of the doctor, who was saved in the hospital’s emergency room, was recently released to the public through a program on China Central Television, causing netizens to express their compassion and sympathy for the doctor.

Netizens called for people to show greater respect, understanding and patience towards medical staff, citing severe, violent and occasionally fatal patient-doctor disputes that have recently happened in China. A Chinese Medical Doctor Association report in 2015 said almost 60 percent of medical staff in China had experienced verbal abuse, and around one in seven had been physically assaulted.

According to the program, the severe pressure placed on the doctor from his intense workload and PhD examinations caused him to develop a disorder in the digestive system, which almost killed him when he couldn’t stop from coughing up blood. Emergency doctors finally came to his rescue and saved his life.

Recently, the death of the 44-year-old founder of a mobile health app startup from a heart attack also attracted the attention of Chinese netizens, who demanded greater awareness of the pressures of maintaining a heavy workload and practicing entrepreneurship.