'Here We Come' uses reality show to improve rescue infrastructure

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-9-27 19:03:01

Tired of the singing talent shows constantly showing on TV, Chinese audiences are turning to other choices to spend their leisure time. 

Here We Come, a talent show produced by the China Emergency Assistance Talent Training Base (in Anyang of Henan Province), is one of these alternatives. While also a reality show, the program sets itself apart by following 300 students as they go about training to be emergency rescue pilots. By the end of the season, 30 finalists will win the chance to head overseas to the US to  continue their professional helicopter rescue training.

Looking at recent headlines, it's quite clear that this type of emergency response system is extremely important in order to save lives.

However, unlike some Western countries in which air emergency rescue services have been in place for years and so are highly effective, China still has a long way to go before it can establish something on the same level.

For example, the US now has 19,000 helicopter rescue bases throughout the country to ensure that victims can get medical help within 10 to 20 minutes.

The country currently has approximately 700,000 emergency pilots overall.

China on the other hand has only around 8,000 such pilots, and there are merely hundreds of emergency bases scattered around the country, including ones that are actually meant to be just temporary bases.

To meet this increasingly urgent demand, the China Emergency Assistance Talent Training Base was established by the Guangdong Baiyun Aviation Company in Anyang, Henan Province in 2013 and later approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Besides trying to attract viewer numbers each week like other reality shows, Here We Come has the added goal of trying to attract as many qualified candidates as possible; a goal that is extremely difficult considering the severe physical and mental requirement for emergency rescue workers and pilots.

According to a statement by the China Emergency Assistance Talent Training Base, initial selection will be held in seven cities including Chengdu, Zhengzhou and Guangzhou. Filming and training is expected to begin at the end of November.

Global Times

Posted in: TV

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