“Boss, this emergency rescue has proven to me how experienced you really are,” Su Yun joked after he sewed the heart and noted a sinus rhythm on the ECG monitor, knowing that the patient would survive.
“I could feel the pericardium with my fingers, but not the myocardium. That meant high pressure. The diagnosis was obvious.” Zheng Ren retrieved the warm saline from Little Yiren and poured all of it into the patient’s thoracic cavity. He then returned the empty vessel to ask for more.
“It sounds easy to open someone’s chest in the emergency rescue room and give them an open-chest cardiac massage, but most people don’t have the courage to do it,” Su Yun said.
He was telling the truth.
Technically speaking, the patient was already dead.
Applying a continuous closed-chest cardiac massage would not bring the patient back to life. They needed to open the patient’s chest to relieve the cardiac tamponade, where the bleeding could be so intense that it would shoot up the ceiling from the pent-up pressure. An operation like this would deter most doctors.
Why?
Even if they manage to revive the patient, the patient’s chest was exposed to non-sterile conditions. Atelectasis, pulmonary infection, and myocarditis were common postoperative complications.
There would be a long list of complications after surgery.
If they fail to resuscitate…
Haha, congratulations. There was a 50% chance that they would be involved in a medical dispute, which could end their career right then.
“I didn’t think it over too much,” Zheng Ren answered simply and honestly.
His entire focus was to save the patient.
He gave his best effort no matter what.
He could not just turn his back on the oath to save lives regardless of the final outcome.
“Boss, you seem rather dreary most of the time. Why do you turn into an entirely different person when it comes to an emergency rescue?” Su Yun asked.
“There’s no such thing. I’m always cool-headed and organized. Yanran, double-lumen intubation,” Zheng Ren ordered Chu Yanran to intubate the patient with a double-lumen endotracheal tube as he talked to Su Yun, checking if there were any leakages in the lung.
“Are you sure about that? You kicked a doctor back in Imperial Capital when you were trying to save Fang Lin. Today you kicked the patient’s family member!”
“We were running out of time and she had a death grip on the gurney. Who would be to blame if the patient dies?” Zheng Ren answered calmly.
At this point, his nerve and enthusiasm from the emergency rescue had subsided.
Zheng Ren replayed the situation in his mind. Given a second chance, he would still kick the patient’s family member who was in the way.
The patient’s family was grieving; she thought that the patient had died. Her good intentions were hindering the rescue.
“Aren’t you worried about medical disputes?” Su Yun asked while he suctioned the excess saline from the chest with an aspirator.
There were no bubbles after carefully observing the saline in the chest cavity.
“I was before but Little Six said that he deterred all the medical dispute profiteers from Sea City General Hospital. Normal patient’s family members are pretty reasonable. Furthermore, there shouldn’t be a problem with Fan Tianshui around.” Zheng Ren observed closely for a while more before checking the bright red System monitor in the upper corner of his eye. After seeing that there was no lung rupture, he said, “Close the chest.”
Ding dong~
The mission complete notification sounded in Zheng Ren’s ear at that moment.
[Emergency Mission: Reviving The Dead completed.
[Mission Details: Rescue the multiple stab wound patient undergoing cardiac arrest.
[Mission Reward: One Master-rank emergency rescue skill book and one golden chest.
[Mission Duration: 45 minutes, 2 hours 15 minutes remaining.]
The rewards were not too bad. Master-rank emergency rescue… Zheng Ren relished for a moment before returning his focus to the surgery.
“There’s no technicality required for this type of surgery,” Su Yun complained, “Boss, I thought today was finally my time to shine. Are you trying to steal my thoracic surgery?”
“Hmm? Didn’t you suture the heart?”
“No one was around to see that,” Su Yun said, “When I saw the wound, I knew that the patient was having a cardiac tamponade. I was about to cut it open and administer an open-chest cardiac massage. Who knew that you would steal that from me. Can’t you just be a normal general and interventional surgeon?”
“I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to think. I just did it since I know the procedures.” Zheng Ren laughed. When he saw that Su Yun finished suctioning the saline from the chest cavity, he continued, “Prepare antibiotics: eight vials of Cefoperazone-Tazobactam. Do a skin test.”
Infection was inevitable as the surgery was conducted in an exposed surrounding. The next step was to try reducing the extent of the infection.
After they covered the patient with warm saline gauze, Zheng Ren finally relaxed when he saw that the stats and rhythm on the monitor were stable.
“Boss, I think you should think of how to explain yourself to the patient’s family member,” Su Yun teased.
“There’s nothing to explain. I resuscitated a dead person. What more could they want? For them to go to heaven?” Zheng Ren chuckled.
Everybody was in a good mood since the surgery was a success, brightening up the atmosphere in the operating room.
The circulating nurse administered the skin test to the patient. There was a 15-minute incubation time, so they had a free window to joke around.
They chatted for a while and 15 minutes had passed.
The skin test turned out to be negative. The circulating nurse opened eight vials of Cefoperazone-Tazobactam and poured them into a bowl. Xie Yiren then passed the bowl to Zheng Ren.
After pouring the clear antibiotics into the open cavity, Zheng Ren and Su Yun proceeded to close the chest.
It was a simple surgery with a clear, bright surgical field. Zheng Ren was rather envious that thoracic surgery had such a clear view.
So pleasing to the eyes!
They placed a closed-chest drainage system and pericardial drainage before suturing each layer and closing the chest.
Chu Yanran inflated the patient’s lungs, causing the water seal chamber to bubble.
The general anesthesia had not worn off. The patient was sent to the ICU for overnight monitoring. If his condition stabilized, they could remove the tube and transfer him to the emergency ward.
“I’ll go check on the patient’s family members. There’s so much paperwork to do.” Zheng Ren turned around to leave the operating table as he removed his gloves.
“Boss, could you be more considerate?” Su Yun wailed. “If you leave, there are only two of us. Are you expecting me and Yanran to carry the patient by ourselves?”
“I’ll call Lil Fugui over,” Zheng Ren walked out of the operating room.
Not that Zheng Ren wanted to loaf around on the job, but the surgery was so urgent that they had skipped too many preoperative protocols.
As Su Yun had implied earlier, things would get messy post-surgery.
He searched for his phone and called Professor Rudolf Wagner to ask him to assist them in the operating room. Zheng Ren then walked out of the main entrance.
A muscular figure appeared in front of him when the door opened.
Zheng Ren was stunned for a moment, but he was quickly met with Fan Tianshui’s sincere smile.
“Chief Zheng, how was the surgery?” Fan Tianshui asked.
“It’s fine; the patient will be staying in the ICU,” Zheng Ren continued, “Who are the patient’s direct family members?”
Instantly, a group of people crowded over.
“I need someone to sign the forms and submit payment. Those who are unrelated to the patient, please step aside. Where’s the patient’s spouse?” Zheng Ren said loudly.
“Excuse me, who are you? Stop being so nosy and go away.” A few women helped the patient’s spouse over to Zheng Ren
She could not walk as her entire body had gone limp. The women tried their best to carry her to Zheng Ren.
Zheng Ren forced a smile and said hurriedly, “Help her to a chair.”
After scrambling for several minutes, the patient’s spouse was finally seated in a red plastic stool. Both her eyes were hollow and empty while she waited for Zheng Ren to announce the death of her husband.
“Are you the patient’s spouse?” Zheng Ren asked.
There was no response from the woman, as if she did not hear Zheng Ren.
“Yes, she is. Doctor, how is Old Hai?” one of them asked anxiously.
“We managed to rescue him. He’ll be monitored in the ICU for a while. If everything goes well, he can be transferred to the normal ward tomorrow.”
His words struck them like thunder.
