Xu Tao (right), who works in the pneumology department of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, takes a family group photo before heading to Wuhan, the city hardest hit by the epidemic in China. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] 

"The top task is helping to cure the patients, and taking care of yourselves should also be among the priorities," Hu added.

It took only one hour for hospital authorities to mobilize the team and confirm the team members' list on Saturday night, and the hospital finished preparing medical supplies overnight.

Yu Wencheng, head of the hospital's respiratory and critical disease department, is the leader of the special 132-member team.

"We have been prepared to answer the nation's call to the battlefield since the NCP outbreak in the past weeks, and we are confident that we will complete this task successfully and return home safe," Yu said.

The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, established in 1898, received the first NCP patient infected in Shandong province on Jan 18, who was also the first patient to be cured and discharged within the province, on Jan 29.

Previously, the hospital has sent dozens of medical experts to Wuhan in two groups since Jan 25.

On Sunday morning the city also saw off other 132 medical staff, selected from other five hospitals affiliated with Qingdao Municipal Health Commission, and they a;so will share some of the most difficult work at the intensive care units of major hospitals in Wuhan.