Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 122

#122 A Beating Heart (6)

There’s a saying:

Even a few seconds can drastically change a person’s fate.

‘Damn it, I’m too late!’

I bit my lip.

I was one step behind.

I managed to stop it somehow in the middle, but when we arrived, the disaster had already happened.

‘If Geun-wook and I had arrived just 10 seconds earlier… could we have completely prevented the stabbing?’

It’s no use thinking about it now.

The floor of Gokdam Market is already covered in blood.

“Sun-han, I’ll hold this guy down, so check on the person who got stabbed!”

Clang―

Geun-wook pins the taxi driver down and throws the knife away.

He’s the most reliable person in the world at times like this.

I shouted to the person next to me.

“Hey, Mr. Boss, please call the police and an ambulance! And bring a towel for first aid!”

“O-okay!”

Tap, tap―

I approached the patient.

And knelt down on one knee to examine the wound.

The patient was screaming in pain, his upper body covered in blood.

‘This isn’t good.’

Left chest, below the nipple.

There are two wounds.

Both appear to be 3 to 4 centimeters long, the length of the blade.

‘The blade penetrated the 5th and 6th rib positions…’

Fortunately, one wound stopped deep in the muscle.

But the other wound seems to have penetrated the chest wall.

Gurgle, gurgle―

Blood was flowing from both wounds, but more blood was flowing from the one that penetrated the chest wall.

‘…Can I save him?’

I don’t know yet.

Originally, this patient was supposed to die.

But he’s in slightly better condition than what I saw in the dream.

Instead of being stabbed more than ten times, we somehow managed to stop it at two.

‘Let’s do our best for now!’

Tightly―

I applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

Fortunately, the patient’s pulse was strong.

Wee-ooh, wee-ooh―

The ambulance arrived quickly.

The paramedics ran over with a stretcher and asked me.

“What happened?”

“A stabbing victim from 10 minutes ago. The depth appears to have penetrated the chest wall. I don’t know how much blood is pooling in the chest.”

“Uh… are you a doctor?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

The patient, who was initially screaming in pain, gradually lowered his voice.

His consciousness seems to be fading little by little.

‘The news I saw in the dream said he died from excessive bleeding. His blood pressure is dropping rapidly because of the bleeding!’

In the meantime, the police also arrive.

After handing over the criminal, Geun-wook runs over and says in an urgent voice.

“Sun-han, is it too late for this person…?”

“Not yet.”

I shook my head while blocking the patient’s wound.

I can confirm that his heart is still beating through the pulse I feel in his neck and wrist.

But the pulse is weak.

The patient is now on the borderline between life and death.

“Let’s do what we can.”

“Okay!”

We stopped the bleeding and moved the patient to the ambulance.

And squeezed ourselves into the narrow ambulance.

The blood pressure measured as soon as we got into the ambulance was 80/60.

Blood pressure had already dropped as low as it could go due to bleeding.

In this urgent situation, the paramedic shouts.

“We’re going to Gokdam Jeil Hospital!”

“Yes!”

Thud―

The ambulance door closes.

The closest emergency room here is Gokdam Jeil Hospital.

And, Mr. Poong is on duty today.

‘The only person nearby who can help this person right now is Mr. Poong!’

Wee-ooh, wee-ooh―

Thump, thump!

The ambulance departed.

Meanwhile, Geun-wook and I moved our hands busily.

Helping each other, we started inserting an IV line into the patient’s left arm and pushing in fluids.

“Sir, please hang in there. We’ll be at the hospital soon. Sir! Can you hear me?”

“Ugh…”

A dying word that cannot be identified as an answer comes out of the patient’s mouth.

“Geun-wook, more fluids!”

“Okay!”

Squeeze―

Geun-wook squeezed the IV bag.

But even so, the patient’s blood pressure continued to drop further during transport.

“Doctors, blood pressure is dropping further!”

The paramedic shouts.

Blood pressure 70/50.

The patient’s consciousness gradually becomes more blurred, and further conversation was impossible.

‘As expected, pressing down like this from the outside is hardly stopping the bleeding. How much blood is coming out of his chest, really?’

Our bodies must always be full of blood.

That’s how life can be maintained.

If this blood volume is not maintained, the flame of life will be extinguished.

‘In this case, stopping the bleeding is the most important thing…’

It’s not an easy situation.

I don’t even know the exact bleeding site.

Only that it’s somewhere inside the chest…….

No matter how much I block it from the outside, I can’t fundamentally stop the bleeding.

‘What can I do now?’

I checked the patient’s oxygen.

Oxygen saturation 92.

Fortunately, the patient is still breathing shallowly and quickly on his own.

But even this faint breath may disappear at any moment.

‘Okay, let’s ask Mr. Poong!’

I took out my cell phone with my blood-stained hands.

“Mr. Poong, this is Sun-han. An ambulance just left the seafood market. He was stabbed twice with a knife…”

“No, it’s a man in his 30s. Two stab wounds to the left chest, one of which is deep.”

I quickly explained the situation.

Then Mr. Poong’s voice becomes serious for once.

“Blood pressure is 70/50. Consciousness is going from stupor to semicoma stage, and he still has spontaneous breathing.”

A person’s consciousness can be classified into five stages.

Arousal (alert).

Drowsiness (drowsy).

Confusion (stupor).

Semicoma (semicoma).

Coma (coma).

The patient is now entering stage 4.

In other words, reflexive movements are visible, but consciousness cannot be awakened even with strong stimuli.

Mr. Poong asks again.

Knife?

Of course, if it had been stuck, I wouldn’t have pulled it out and left it alone.

This is because if a knife is stuck in the bleeding area, it can play a role in preventing excessive bleeding.

Therefore, in chest trauma, the principle is to leave any foreign objects stuck in the chest, whether it is a knife or something else, and go to the hospital.

But I shook my head.

“The knife was already pulled out. I’m applying pressure with gauze and stuff…”

Then, cutting off my words, the paramedic shouts.

“Oxygen level is dropping!”

Oxygen saturation 83.

Damn it. When did it drop like this?

The patient’s breathing, which is covered with an oxygen mask, seems to be getting shallower.

Then Mr. Poong said.

Intubation?

I recalled my memories.

When I was a thoracic surgery intern, I had a big fight with Ryu Myung-in.

“No. But I can do it!”

“I’ll do it!”

Mr. Poong is not the type to stop me in situations like this.

Instead, he told me the precautions.

“Yes.”

Usually, intubation is performed after anesthesia.

However, in unavoidable emergency situations, it is performed without anesthesia.

Resident doctors have heard of calling this case ‘raw tubation’ [intubation without anesthesia].

At this time, the patient is faintly conscious, but still has the strength to bite.

It may not be easy to secure a view due to saliva and foreign substances in the mouth.

As such, raw tubation is performed in extreme situations, so it is more difficult than normal intubation.

Now, I have to make that raw tubation a success.

“You have everything ready here to do intubation, right?”

I shouted to the paramedic.

“There are endotracheal tubes and laryngoscopes down here!”

“Geun-wook, help me out.”

“Okay!”

Soon Geun-wook prepared the tube, and I put on gloves and assembled the laryngoscope.

And I carefully tilted the patient’s neck back.

The moment I tried to open my mouth with my right hand and insert the laryngoscope in my left hand.

“Eugh!”

Bite!

The patient bit my hand hard.

The gloves are torn, and blood gushes out from under the translucent gloves.

Geun-wook was surprised next to me.

“Hey, Sun-han. Your hand!”

“…….”

It hurts.

But I can’t stop now.

Providing oxygen to the patient takes precedence.

Fortunately, the strength quickly disappeared from the patient’s jaw.

Since the consciousness itself is weak, the biting force did not last long.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing.”

Damn it, it’s bleeding.

I thought my finger was going to be cut off.

Looking at my hand, blood droplets formed along the teeth marks.

Without paying attention, I soon completed the intubation.

When I took off my gloves and pressed the wound on my hand with gauze, I heard Mr. Poong’s voice from over the speakerphone.

“Yes.”

“……Your five fingers are all fine, though?”

I chuckled.

To be bluffing at a time like this.

But at this moment, even such bluffing is welcome.

‘Don’t panic and deal with it calmly as usual.’

At least that’s how it sounded to me.

Meanwhile, Geun-wook put on a stethoscope and auscultated [listened to the patient’s lungs].

This is the procedure to check if the intubation was successful.

After a while, Geun-wook gives me an okay sign.

“Oxygen saturation is 98!”

At that time, the paramedic reported that the patient’s oxygen saturation had recovered.

“Yes, it’s okay. But the blood pressure is still the same!”

A heart barely beating.

The loud siren sound echoing in the car.

Mr. Poong’s words heard through the real-time speakerphone.

And even the sound of Geun-wook squeezing the ambu bag [a manual resuscitator].

Amid the confusion of various sounds, we were able to arrive at the hospital.

“We’ve arrived at the hospital!”

Screech―

Soon the ambulance arrived at the emergency room of Gokdam Jeil Hospital.

As soon as I pulled the stretcher car and entered the emergency room, I saw familiar faces.

“Doctor!”

“Come this way!”

Emergency medical technicians help us.

Inside the emergency room, all preparations had already been made.

Yeon-seo and So-dam run over and ask.

“Sun-han!”

“What happened?”

The two are surprised to recognize the patient’s face.

Well, it’s no wonder they’re surprised.

Because they saw the face they encountered in Gokdam downtown on the first day in the emergency room on the last day.

“I’ll explain the situation later. Let’s move the patient first.”

“Okay!”

Now is not the time to explain in detail.

At that time, a thick bass voice echoed in the emergency room.

“Why are you so late?”

“Doctor!”

I never thought I’d be so happy to see Mr. Poong’s face.

He strode over and said.

“Are you bringing in patients until the last day?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is the patient’s heart still beating?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, good job.”

Thump.

He puts his hand on my shoulder.

At this moment, the strength felt in that hand is more reliable than a hundred words.

“Everyone to the resuscitation room!”

Mr. Poong began to command the situation in a loud voice.