Background: Over 69,000 were killed, 375,000 injured and a further 18,000 were missing when the 5.12 Richter scale earthquake struck Wenchuan, Sichuan on 12 May 2008. The Chinese Cochrane Centre immediately focused on evidence collection related to the rescue work. Objective: To produce, preserve and disseminate medical rescue evidence about the earthquake. Methods: 1) We collected relevant data systematically and processed it into available earthquake rescue evidence working with medical staff from the quake area. 2) We conducted a field investigation of the quake victims, collecting necessary information to supplement earthquake rescue evidence. 3) Co-operating with Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine (CJEBM) in Chengdu, we established an evidence column to receive information and disseminate it. 4) Co-operating with Wiley-Blackwell, we published the latest information and best evidence concerning earthquake medical rescue in the Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine (JEBM). Results: An earthquake column was added to the CJEBM starting five weeks after the quake. It reported high-quality research articles including original research and secondary research on economics, methods, policy and management. By 15 April 2009, more than 50 departments (14 provincial and municipal hospitals, 21 government health institutions at all levels, and 22 other teaching and research units) and 486 authors have published nearly 500 articles in the ten months after the quake, offering a basis for decision-making in rescue work for future earthquakes and other disasters. Conclusions: Taking the deteriorating global environment and high-frequency of natural disasters into account, the Cochrane Collaboration and the 13 Cochrane Centres should pay close attention to data collection and dissemination related to natural disasters, aiming to offer the best evidence, and put that evidence into practice.