The Awardee of The Third Hong Kong Humanity Award - Dr POON Tak-lun

Since 1980s, Dr Poon Tak-lun has been dedicating in humanitarian volunteer mission restlessly. Dr Poon actively participates in emergency relief works.During the 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake, he made no second thought but agreed to be one of the six members in the first medical professional volunteer team of the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC), arriving at Beichuan county three days after the quake to provide emergency medical service among the ruins to earthquake victims. The whole team stayed for four days and cared for about 400 wounded people. After the emergency phase, he has been a key voluntary worker providing clinical service to help rehabilitation of earthquake victims in the Deyang Disabled Persons’ Federation– Hong Kong Red Cross Rehabilitation, Prosthetic and Orthotic Centre (P&O centre) from July 2008. The Centre provides one stop and multidisciplinary service including free prosthesis installation, testing, production, trial, rehabilitation, repair and maintenance, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychological support to the disabled. Dr Poon pays regular visits once every two weeks to the P&O centre and provides clinical service for the earthquake victims. Starting from 2010, he also contributes his expertise in Wenchuan County People’s Hospital. Over 1,000 patients were treated, 700 prostheses were fitted and 100 surgeries had been performed by him during these few months. Until today, his leisure time is fully occupied by medical volunteer works; yet he works without hesitation for the Sichuan patients and he said, “There are still plenty for us to work for, and we could work endlessly like this.” Besides the tremendous efforts to the vulnerable after the 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake, Dr Poon participated before as a member of disaster relief program in China of flooding in 1992 and 1998. He was a delegate member of an expert team sent by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to the Republic of Mongolia to give suggestions on health care issue in 2000. Besides medical relief missions, Dr Poon has engaged in First Aid Training for HKRC for 22 years. Since December 2006, under the request of the Beijing Branch of the Red Cross Society of China (Beijing Red Cross), the HKRC and Beijing Red Cross organized a “First Aid Instructor Enhancement Training Certificate Course for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games” in Beijing. Dr Poon volunteered to be one of the key members in training first-aid trainers locally in the mainland. He helped design and edit teaching materials and conducted courses to train the trainers. Further, he actively participates in HKRC committees and provides professional support, including Health & Care Service Management Committee, Paramedical Training Advisory Committee, Youth & Volunteer Management Committee, and International & Relief Service Management Committee.