The moment the ambulance made a stop, a patient who was practically a mash of flesh and blood was wheeled out.
The paramedic reported quickly with one hand pressed on the patient’s abdomen. “HR 120, BP 120/90, penetrative wound on the abdomen, breathing rate 22, pure oxygen was administered before arrival…”
“Follow me, we’re going straight to the surgical floor.” The attending physician from the General Surgery Department was an experienced one. He only took one glance at the position of the wound and started walking.
On ordinary days, when a patient whose belly was pierced through showed up, the doctor in charge at the General Surgery Department would definitely pay him a lot of attention. The doctor might even ask a chief physician to come over for a consultation.
Not only were most attending physicians worried that they were not capable enough, but they were also unwilling to take up large responsibilities.
However, when everyone realized that what had happened might be an extremely major incident, it was hard for them to pay attention to a patient who was merely suffering from a penetrative wound on his belly.
The attending physician of the General Surgery Department merely glanced at the associate chief physician beside him, who was standing with his hands raised in front of his chest, before bringing the patient to the operating theater right away according to Ling Ran’s arrangements. He immediately performed an exploratory laparotomy, which saved a lot of effort.
Some patients who were sent in after that were transferred to the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, while the Emergency Department treated those with circulatory shock. Because of this, Ling Ran got to relax a little.
Soon, Zuo Cidian who was done ordering the kitchen staff members to prepare food rushed back to the resuscitation room. He saw that Doctor Zhou was busy barking orders.
Doctor Zhou was busy…
‘What?
‘Old Zhou is busy?’
Zuo Cidian froze for a moment and took a good look at his surroundings. He saw Doctor Zhou, Ma Yanlin, and a few other doctors busy treating patients. He did not see Yu Yuan, but this was very normal given her height. ‘But where’s Doctor Ling?’
Zuo Cidian immediately exited the resuscitation room. He only felt a little more at ease when he saw Ling Ran.
But right after that, Zuo Cidian became anxious again. He quickly walked over to Ling Ran, and he looked like a child who was chasing after Fragrance Yard as he did so. He whispered into Ling Ran’s ear, “Doctor Ling, is everything over here… alright?”
“Everything’s normal,” Ling Ran said.
“Normal, huh…?” Zuo Cidian looked around hesitantly and said in a hushed tone, “I see that the doctors in the other departments are starting to operate on patients already…”
Ling Ran understood what Zuo Cidian meant. He smiled and said, “There had only been four ambulances in total. Let’s wait for a little while.”
“Oh, okay. you’re right. Doctors in those departments have dealt with patients from those ambulances, and we are not the right people to treat the injuries that those patients are suffering from either… I guess we can be considered as reserve forces…” Zuo Cidian articulated what Ling Ran was implying in a dramatic manner. He was standing behind Ling Ran with his body straight and head raised. He faced the reception door, and he wore a solemn expression.
Compared with minor incidents, major incidents were complicated because often, a large number of patients would suddenly be sent in.
If a person were to only consider the kinds of injuries suffered by the wounded, it was not a given that patients who got injured during major incidents would suffer more serious wounds than patients who got injured during minor incidents. However, when a large number of patients were sent in all of a sudden, it would put huge pressure on the medical staff members. It was just like a strong surge of electric current that would penetrate materials that did not have strong enough insulation properties.
Whenever institutions like hospitals were hard hit by this kind of occurrence, total chaos would ensue, and things would be a total mess. When circumstances were extremely dire, doctors would have to categorize patients according to the severity of their injuries and treat the more seriously wounded ones first. This was exactly what Ling Ran did back in Brazil.
Similarly, as long as institutions such as hospitals were not hit hard by an astronomical number of patients, the only difference the number of patients would make would be the degree of fatigue of the doctors.
Take an ordinary tertiary Grade A hospital in China as an example. It was very normal around a hundred surgeries to be performed by various doctors of the hospital every day. And it was impossible for a normal incident to wound a hundred patients. For hospitals, the only part that allowed the doctors to last through this sort of accident was the knowledge that this hardest pressure only happened once in a blue moon.
Ling Ran knew this very well, and Zuo Cidian could understand where Ling Ran was coming from.
Yet, after waiting for a short while, Zuo Cidian became worried again. “Doctor Ling, what if… this is all there is to the incident? The remaining patients might also be sent to other hospitals…”
“Do you have a strong desire to operate on patients today?” Ling Ran looked dumbfoundedly at Zuo Cidian.
Zuo Cidian chuckled. “I’m just putting myself in your shoes. You’ve already let other departments operate on the patients who were sent in. What if no more patients are sent over? If that happens, you wouldn’t get to carry out any surgeries.”
“I’ve already sent the patients to other departments. But this doesn’t mean that I can’t take the patients back from them, right?” Ling Ran turned and glanced at Zuo Cidian.
“Take the patients back?” Zuo Cidian widened his eyes, and he only took a moment to understand what Ling Ran meant. “So, you’re planning to…”
Ling Ran looked at Zuo Cidian with a baffled expression. To him, this was the most natural thing to do.
Zuo Cidian gulped. He racked his brains and took the initiative to come up with an excuse for Ling Ran. “At least… Doctor Zhou would definitely be willing for you to take his position… Wait. So, did Doctor Zhou get a patient with circulatory shock?
Ling Ran looked at Zuo Cidian in bewilderment and asked, “We’ve already received a report from the site of the incident. Two more ambulances will be coming over very soon.”
“Oh…” Zuo Cidian froze for a moment and cleared his throat pretentiously a few times. “Doctor Ling, I’ll definitely work hard to resuscitate the patients who are coming in.”
Ling Ran nodded. He then shook his head and said, “None of the patients who are being sent over suffer from Colles’ fracture. You can treat those who suffer from minor injuries after they’re sent over. The patients in the first ambulance that is coming over later should be handed over to the Neurosurgery Department.”
Zuo Cidian was disappointed for a moment, but he snapped out of it soon. He was a little relieved as he said, “I’ll do as you say.”
“Five minutes.” A nurse came over and reported the time the ambulances would take to arrive.
Ling Ran nodded in acknowledgment. He then said to Zuo Cidian, “Emergency surgeries are more urgent, and the most important thing is to be able to complete them smoothly. If you want to operate on patients, I’ll arrange for you to carry out some scheduled surgeries later on.”
“Oh… okay…” Zuo Cidian quickly agreed. After he turned away from Ling Ran, he felt a surge of dizziness. ‘What have I just agreed to?’
“Doctor Ling… um…” This was when a nurse ran over and said in a hushed tone, “Can you come over to the operating theater to take a look?”
“Where’s the patient and what’s going on?” Ling Ran sounded steady.
“It’s the patient who was sent to Operating Theater 3 just now…”
“The one belonging to the Orthopedics Department?”
The nurse said in a hushed tone, “Yes. The patient is suspected to be suffering from hemorrhage, so we would like you to take a look.”
“Operating theater 3? Who’s inside there right now?” Zuo Cidian asked.
“Attending Physician Liu is the chief surgeon. Associate Chief Physician Yao has also gone over,” the nurse said softly.
“But they haven’t managed to stop the hemorrhage yet?” Zuo Cidian followed up with two questions.
“No,” the nurse answered.
“I’ll go over and take a look.” Ling Ran looked at the clock and started walking.
Zuo Cidian chased after Ling Ran and said in a hushed tone, “Doctor Ling, even Associate Chief Physician Yao is there. It might not be very appropriate for us to go over there now… What if we run into other unexpected circumstances…?”
“We must save lives first before treating illnesses.” Ling Ran did not slow down at all.
Zuo Cidian licked his lips. There was nothing he could say.
After working in the hospital for so long, he had seen a lot of patients who survived and a lot of patients who did not make it. Sometimes, after a person witnessed something repeatedly, he or she would become used to it.
But as Zuo Cidian walked behind Ling Ran, he felt more relaxed, and there was a spring in his steps.
“Doctor Zuo.” Ling Ran turned and called out to him.
“Yes?” Zuo Cidian answered loudly.
“The ambulances will be arriving very soon. Monitor the resuscitation room and order the doctors to resuscitate the patients according to plan. Call me if there’s any problem,” Ling Ran said and left, leaving Zuo Cidian behind.
Zuo Cidian froze for a moment. ‘So, am I considered the on-site supervisor now?’
