Surgery Godfather

The Emergency Department had also stopped receiving patients, with all patients being redirected to the Chinese medicine hospital. There were dedicated personnel and vehicles near the entrance to guide and transfer patients who came for emergency treatment.

President Dong and County Chief Wu were waiting in the emergency hall, with various directors scattered around making phone calls, mobilizing resources they were in charge of, and fully cooperating with the rescue.

County Chief Wu was very anxious and paced back and forth, asking several times: “Where are the injured?”

“They’re almost here. A police car was sent to clear the way and escort them to the hospital. They should be arriving soon,” explained the chief of public security.

“What about the medical team from the provincial city?”

“They’re close too, probably about ten minutes away. A police car was sent to clear the way and escort them as well,” the public security director said.

“We have sufficient stock of all blood types and have already transported a lot to the hospital blood transfusion department. All our blood delivery vehicles are in place, and support from neighbouring counties is also on the way,” reported the blood bank.

“Emergency medication?” County Chief Wu asked with experience.

“All county hospitals are providing emergency rescue support. Each hospital has set up a hotline to receive personnel and medication allocation in real time. Neighbouring counties have also agreed to provide support at any time,” the director of health answered.

“Very good.” There seemed to be no further oversights, and County Chief Wu glanced at the emergency entrance from time to time.

An ambulance followed by a police car with its siren blaring drove past the emergency entrance, the back door swung open and a stretcher was lifted out from the vehicle.

The folding legs of the stretcher opened, converting it into a gurney. The gurney was covered in dark red blood, sticky and viscous. The person on it was also smeared with blood, lying on his side, curled up, his torn clothes soaked with blood.

A wooden stake as thick as a large bowl pierced through the junction of his chest and abdomen, completely penetrating his body, entering from the front and exiting from the back. The stake was stained with a lot of blood, both ends of the stake were the result of being sawed off by rescuers.

The scene was extremely bloody and terrifying. If it weren’t for the doctors who were accustomed to seeing bloody scenes and life-or-death situations, anyone else would have been shocked and would never forget such a sight.

Director Miao and Director Wu led doctors immediately to meet them, running alongside the gurney. The sound of the gurney grinding against the ground was urgent, as every second counted.

County Chief Wu and President Dong also came over.

When the directors saw the gurney carrying the patient being pushed in, they followed while making calls.

President Dong, who came from a clinical background, had no issues; seeing this scene, County Chief Wu immediately placed his hand on his forehead, feeling a bout of dizziness.

“Help County Chief Wu to my office to rest,” President Dong told his secretary.

County Chief Wu waved his hand: “I’m fine, I can hold on.” He then lowered his hand from his forehead.

There was no time to waste. The gurney was pushed into the red zone of the Emergency Department. The management of the emergency department at Shipo People’s Hospital was very standardized, with a clear division of red, yellow, and green zones.

The red zone was responsible for first and second degree patients, that is, critically ill and seriously ill patients. The yellow zone was for patients with acute diseases, and the green zone was for non-acute patients.

Such zoning was meant to prioritize and optimize the allocation of medical resources.

Some doctors took over the patient condition from the ambulance medics, while other doctors and nurses changed the patient’s fluids, checked his pulse, examined his urine output, drew blood for testing, attached a cuff for blood pressure testing, and connected the leads for heart monitoring.

As the strongest hospital in the area, every doctor and nurse at Shipo People’s Hospital was well-trained. They weren’t flustered, surprised, or delayed, and cooperated proficiently with each other.

“Quick! Draw blood immediately and prepare for a transfusion, then send him directly to the operating room!” Director Miao ordered decisively. He had overseen many traffic accident cases and had more experience than the Director of the Emergency Department, but this shocking scene deeply affected him as well.

“I can’t draw blood!” The nurse, after several attempts at venipuncture, had failed. The patient’s blood pressure was too low, his veins were not full and had collapsed, so naturally, blood couldn’t be drawn.

Drawing blood directly from the intravenous infusion line could lead to some inaccurate test results due to the fluids that had just been administered.

If venipuncture didn’t work, then the vein had to be cut open!

The nurse brought over a venous incision kit. The doctor put on sterile gloves and within two short minutes, a small incision was made in the skin over the patient’s inner ankle where the great saphenous vein was located. The vein was exposed, pierced under direct vision, the needle secured, and the skin sutured.

Blood was drawn for a cross-match transfusion.

A middle-aged man, who had been following the gurney mixed among the crowd since leaving the ambulance and was not dressed in a white coat, suggested: “Use pillows to fill the gap between the stakes and the gurney to reduce the downward pull of gravity.”

Who was he? Everyone looked at him; he seemed to be a friend of the injured patient, but no one asked more questions. There was no time for that. They felt he was correct and everyone’s experience with such a unique injury was inadequate, and some finer details were inevitably overlooked.

Two pillows were immediately brought over.

“I’ll do it!” The man was very skilled, gently stuffing the pillows in, lifting the stake slightly. This could reduce jostling during transit and also reduce the downward pull of gravity which could lead to pressure on the underlying tissues, causing the area above to bleed easily.

“Thank you!” The doctor from the ambulance who had been in charge of the scene shook hands with him. The rescue operation would not have been as professional without his guidance.

“It’s nothing! I just know some first aid knowledge.” The man was very humble.

Now that they had arrived at the hospital, what was left was surgery. The man took a seat on a plastic chair in the emergency department to rest instead of leaving, quietly observing if there was anything else he could help with.

Everyone was busy and in a rush. There was a rescue happening, and no one cared who he was.

The blood draw was complete!

“Take him to the operating room! Emergency surgery!” Director Miao ordered.

The gurney stayed in the emergency red zone for only a few minutes, “Quick! Quick! Quick!” The sound of the gurney clattering as it was hurriedly pushed to the operating room where the heads of General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery Department were already standing by.

Watching the ambulance leave, Director Miao took out his phone, beads of sweat on his forehead, anxiously.

“Professor Tian, the patient with the penetrating injury has arrived and he is in a pretty severe condition. We have already sent him to the operating room for preoperative preparation!”

“Alright, we’re almost there, just a few more minutes. We can see the hospital building!”

Director Miao, President Dong, County Chief Wu, and several bureau chiefs all went to the entrance of the emergency department to wait.

The wail of sirens announced the arrival of the ambulance. A large bus carrying the medical team pulled up and stopped in the parking lot under the stairs of the emergency entrance. The bus door opened, and Director Tian was the first one to step down.

Director Miao, President Dong, and County Chief Wu immediately went forward to welcome them.

“Professor Tian, you’ve arrived just in time!” Director Miao walked too fast, leaving President Dong and County Chief Wu behind. County Chief Wu nearly tripped on the stairs, but luckily was steadied by his secretary.

“The first victim, who suffered a penetrating injury from a tree, has been sent to the operating room. The other seven are on their way and will be here soon.” Director Miao briefly explained the situation.

Everyone came down from the bus and orderly lined up in a nearby open field. The previous emergency response training at Sanbo Hospital was paying off now.

The feminine colleagues, those with shawl-like hair, had already tied it up in the bus. All accessories, including rings, necklaces, and earrings, had been removed. Liang Fatty didn’t go off to smoke after getting of the bus.

Professor Tian swiftly arranged, “Yang Ping, Song Zimo, Su Yixuan, Liang Jing, Zhang Lin, Little Five, follow me to the operating room to rescue the casualty with the penetrating injury. The rest of the team will remain on stand by in the emergency department, ready to cooperate with Shipo People’s Hospital. The rest of your colleagues, who has the highest professional title? Whoever has a high senior title, raise your hand!”

Chen Xiaoqiao from the obstetrics and gynecology department and Wang Hansheng from the urological surgery department raised their hands.

“Director Wang, I’ll go to the operating room right away. I leave the remaining colleagues to your command. If you also go to the operating room later, Director Chen will take over the command. Everyone is familiar with the protocol; just elect the person with the highest title on site as the commander, and follow their command!”

“Understood!” The response was loud and clear.

After clear instructions, Tian Yuan turned back to Director Miao and said, “The team is in your hands now; we have to rush to the operating room.”

Under such circumstances, there was no time for pleasantries. All redundant formalities were omitted and Director Miao immediately accompanied Tian Yuan to the operating room.

Introducing County Chief Wu and several bureau chiefs was dismissed or rather, it was completely forgotten.

Once they reached the operating room, they quickly changed into surgical attire and masks, and entered the surgery without hesitation.

The patient was lying on his side on the operating table, and Dr. Tao was steadying the patient.

It was difficult to position such a casualty; he could only lie on his side.

This sideways position was hard to maintain, the surgery view was extremely poor, and it was also difficult for the anesthetist to intubate.

One doctor was specifically in charge of positioning the head in a tilted back posture to open the airway and facilitate the anesthetist’s intubation.

But the anesthetist had tried several times and still failed.

This kind of emergency was indeed rare. Judging from the position, a wooden stake had pierced through the diaphragm, and all the surrounding areas were vital organs such as the heart, lungs, as well as liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen. Any of them could be fatal. It was also lucky to be able to survive unto the operating table.

Both the Directors of the General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery Departments felt helpless about where to start the surgery.

The more experienced they were, the more terrified they felt. Ignorance was a kind of courage in itself. If the wooden stake was pulled out, the patient could bleed out and die in a matter of seconds, and the rescue effort would be over.

Proper decorum was immediately dismissed as Tian Yuan commanded, “Fatty, you’re up!” Fatty immediately put on his gloves.

Director Miao declared, “This is Professor Tian from the provincial city, who came to support us. Everyone should follow Professor Tian’s command.”

Professor Tian? He had performed a surgery here before, everyone knew, he was very skilled.

With the strong reinforcement from the provincial city, the Heads of General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery Departments felt relieved.

Liang Fatty’s surgical competency was directly proportional to his smoking addiction. He gently inserted the laryngoscope, put the tracheal tube in, pulled out the guide wire successfully, inflated the cuff, secured the tracheal tube, and connected it to the anesthesia machine.

“Can we operate simultaneously to save time?” Yang Ping evaluated the casualty.

He had performed countless surgeries on such multiple trauma patients in the system space. He had even treated more severe cases simulated by the system, so he had enough confidence.

Tian Yuan looked at Yang Ping, “Have you done this kind of surgery before?”

Yang Ping nodded, “Trust me, there are no problems. You manage the backside, and I handle the front. We perform the surgery simultaneously.”

“No, the front is too challenging. The heart, lungs, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen are all around the impalement, squeezed and pulled by it. Some organs have definitely been damaged. It’s just that as they’re being compressed, there’s no fatal blood loss.”

“Trust me!” Yang Ping requested again.

Tian Yuan hesitated. Judging from the previous pelvic surgery, Yang Ping indeed outperformed himself but, this surgery?

It was too risky and difficult. The slightest mishap could cause the patient to bleed out and die on the operating table. It could be said to be one of the most dangerous traumas.

Recalling his pelvic surgery with adhesions, excellent and refined anatomical skills, transcendental separation, and sharpshooter-like precision in stopping bleeding.

He can do it! After brief consideration, Tian Yuan made his decision.

“Scrub in!”