Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 22

Vital Sign, Part 5 – Episode 22 (22/502)

Episode 22. Restoring the Heart

“I’m so sick of this.”

“Ha! What’s so tiring? Well, I guess you’d be bored, always looking at other things.”

“Are you having a fit of jealousy?”

“What, jealousy! Is that why I caught you secretly texting another woman, and that’s why I hit you?”

“Hey! I didn’t text any woman!”

“You did!”

“And you didn’t hit me? Did I not get hit?”

“Excuse me, patients?”

Lee Chan-hee, who had just barely sat down to rest, was being harassed by the young couple.

“My parents raised me so preciously, who do you think you are to hit me!”

“Anyone would think I really hit you. I pushed you because you kept coming at me. When did I ever hit you?”

“Here! Can’t you see the scratch on my face?”

“Then what about the wound on my nose from you biting me?”

“Could you two please stop.”

Occasionally, there were people who came to the hospital after having a marital fight at home.

“Doctor, how many weeks is this injury worth?”

“What about me? My wife bit my nose; isn’t my injury more severe?”

The problem was that they continued their fight even at the hospital.

“This is a hospital. I’ll explain it to you again, so listen carefully. Both of you just have minor scratches that need some disinfectant.”

“Did you hear that? It’s just a scratch. We’re over.”

“Hey! Are you the only one with a scratch? I have one too.”

The couple, who were as disrespectful as if they were in their own living room, also lacked respect for knowledge.

“Honey, what’s a scratch?”

“I don’t know. What is it?”

“Doctor, what’s a scratch?”

“A scratch is a minor injury where the skin is slightly scraped. In other words, your treatment is finished, so please pay and go home.”

“No, doctor, this person hit me. Please take a closer look.”

“Doctor, this woman bit me, I’m telling you.”

“Don’t you see the other patients here?”

Lee Chan-hee’s patience reached its limit with the endless repetition. However, unlike his frustrated feelings, he calmly gave them a warning.

“If you keep causing a disturbance like this, I’ll call the police.”

“Yes! The police?”

“Well, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“The doctor is being a bit harsh. Don’t you think, honey?”

“I agree. Doctors shouldn’t act like that.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to pay and go home.”

“We’re going to pay, but you’re being too harsh on the patients.”

-Code Blue~ Code Blue, adult in room 307!

Just as Lee Chan-hee’s good-natured patience was wearing thin, an announcement came over the hospital’s intercom.

-Code Blue~ Code Blue, adult in room 307!

“Code Blue?”

As soon as he heard the announcement, Lee Chan-hee dashed out of the emergency room like a racehorse.

“Oh my, oh my, what’s going on?”

“Honey, should we just go home?”

“Yeah. The medical staff here is a bit lacking, don’t you think?”

“Doctors are usually rude anyway.”

* * *

“Ha!”

Tae-kyung, who opened the hospital room door, quickly approached the patient.

He quickly assumed the position for CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation] and began chest compressions.

He interlocked his hands and compressed the chest as much as possible in a steady rhythm, while also allowing it to fully decompress.

The key here was not the compression but the decompression.

During decompression, blood flows to the coronary arteries, and the heart rhythm returns depending on the amount of blood supplied.

‘Oxygen supply!’

Another important thing was the oxygen supply.

“Has the ambu bag [a bag valve mask used for ventilation] not arrived yet?”

“Doctor, here it is. I brought it.”

At Tae-kyung’s call, nurse Lim Jung-sook brought the ambu bag.

“I’ll do it.”

Lee Chan-hee, who had arrived just in time, quickly received the ambu bag.

Standing opposite Tae-kyung, who was still performing CPR, Lee Chan-hee placed it over the patient’s mouth.

“Make sure there are no air leaks.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Lee Chan-hee squeezed the ambu bag, using his other hand to lift the patient’s chin to ensure a tight seal so that no air leaked out.

“Get me the EMR [electronic medical record].”

“Has the patient’s guardian arrived yet?”

“Check the blood test results.”

The medical staff, who arrived in the room one after another, began to move busily, while the others prepared to take over the compressions behind Tae-kyung.

The nurses also moved quickly according to the doctor’s orders.

‘Hang in there, patient.’

Tae-kyung continued CPR in perfect form, silently cheering for the patient.

When a patient experiences cardiac arrest, it is like a small battlefield.

All the medical staff gathered here are fighting a war to save a fading life.

They did not divide and agree on what to do in advance. Their tasks and roles were simply and naturally divided.

The medical professionals’ collaboration to save the patient’s life had begun.

As if by appointment, doctors and nurses all moved like a single organism.

When the moment of Code Blue arrives, they rush in with the determination to ‘definitely’ restore the patient’s heart.

“I’ll switch hands.”

After a certain amount of time had passed and the force of the compression weakened, Doctor Lee said, standing behind him.

Her usually smiling face was filled with determination.

“Doctor, I’ll switch.”

“Okay.”

At the same time as the answer, Tae-kyung was about to take his hand off when it happened.

Shluk!

A sound of a handful of liquid colliding was heard.

“Another one!”

A handful of blood poured out of the patient’s mouth and into the ambu bag.

“Get me another ambu bag.”

Lee Chan-hee hurriedly replaced the ambu bag, and Tae-kyung also prepared to take over the compressions.

“Give me a vasoconstrictor and do an ABGA [arterial blood gas analysis, blood collection to determine oxygen saturation] and print out the results!”

Tae-kyung, who was in charge of the overall command, told the nurses.

“I’ll take the blood from the foot.”

Because the patient’s body was jumping from the compression due to CPR, arterial blood was taken from the foot. Then, the arterial blood was taken to the machine to get the results.

“Um… Doctor, should I go get the defibrillator?”

In the rapidly changing situation, a newly arrived nurse quietly whispered to Tae-kyung.

“We don’t need a defibrillator right now.”

A defibrillator would be harmful to this patient right now.

A defibrillator stops the heart from fluttering by stopping the heart’s own movement.

In other words, it is to stop excessive movement.

Using it on a patient whose heart has stopped, as it is now, would make the already immobile heart even less mobile.

A defibrillator is needed when the heart is beating so much that it causes cardiac arrest.

The new nurse said it because she wanted to do well, but there was no time to explain it now.

‘Please!’

Tae-kyung’s eyes, which moved between the monitor and the patient, became increasingly anxious.

Cardiac arrest.

It was a cardiac arrest that he had experienced hundreds of times, but he never got used to this situation.

Unlike dramas or movies, the probability of a patient reviving from an actual cardiac arrest is very low.

“Give me 2 ampules of epinephrine [a vasoconstrictor] and I’ll send out another ABGA.”

When this situation occurs, all a doctor can do is do his best with all his might.

“I’ll check the pulse.”

He stopped the compression for a moment and checked if the beat had returned.

“No pulse.”

At the same time as this statement, the busy hand movements of compression and the ambu bag were resumed.

“Doctor Jung, switch.”

“I’ll switch.”

When there was a sign that Doctor Lee’s strength was running out, Tae-kyung started the compression again.

“Full drip of IV fluids.”

“Yes, I understand.”

At Tae-kyung’s words, the nurse fully opened the IV fluid regulator.

Tuk tuk-

The patient’s body moved violently in response to Tae-kyung’s compression. His frail body looked pitiful.

Rib fractures often occur during CPR.

This is especially true for thin patients, but now is not the time to worry about that.

‘Please come back. Please!’

Restoring the heart is the priority.

“What are the ABGA results now?”

“Just a moment.”

At Tae-kyung’s words, Doctor Lee, who received the results, shouted.

“I’ll check the pulse one more time!”

At that, Tae-kyung’s hand, which had been doing combative compression, stopped for a moment, and Doctor Lee put his fingertips on the blood vessel in his neck.

Everyone in room 307’s eyes were on Doctor Lee’s fingertips.

“It’s… it’s back!”

The faces of the medical staff, which had been serious to the point of being grim, finally brightened.

“Haa!”

A heavy breath burst from Tae-kyung’s mouth.

And at that moment, the smell of formalin that had filled the hospital room changed.

“……!”

The smell that had vibrated all the way to the hallway disappeared in an instant, like a stream of water draining into a sewer.

‘Thank goodness.’

Tae-kyung said inwardly, looking at the patient’s returned pulse. He was grateful that he didn’t miss the patient’s golden time [the critical period for effective intervention].

But it’s too early to be completely relieved.

“ROSC [return of spontaneous circulation] has returned, but we can’t rest easy.”

Tae-kyung gave another order for the patient.

“Take blood pressure and ECG [electrocardiogram].”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“And I’ll do an endotracheal intubation [inserting a tube into the trachea to assist breathing]. Please prepare it.”

“I understand.”

“ABGA will be done 3 times every 30 minutes, and then 2 more times every hour. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Doctor Jung, Doctor Lee, thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Doctor. Thank you for your hard work.”

With brief greetings, doctors and nurses return to their duties. As if nothing had happened.

“Patient Lee Chang-joon, you worked hard.”

The patient’s life, which had now been rekindled, was left solely to Tae-kyung.

“So please keep trying until the end.”

He will take all possible measures to prevent the life of the patient he has worked so hard to save from being extinguished.

The reason is simple. Because he wants to save him.

“Patient, I’ll be by your side.”

Tae-kyung encouraged the patient and sat down next to him.

At this moment, when the patient has not let go of the thread of life, he feels an overwhelming sense of fullness, as if he has the whole world.

For the time being, Tae-kyung is going to sleep in the on-call room for the patient.

* * *

“Excuse me?”

Choi, the head of the general affairs department, who had bought a Vita drink at the convenience store, approached a young man standing in front of the hospital.

“Excuse me. Did you come to our hospital?”

The man wearing a hood was circling the same spot when he came out of the hospital a little while ago.

“Do you need help?”

“Ah… that, ah!! Sh*t!”

“……!”

“I, I’m sorry, ah! I’m sorry. Ah!”

The young man apologized to Team Leader Choi, who was surprised by his shout, and left.

“Is he drunk?”

“What is it?”

“No, I saw a strange person in front of the hospital.”

“It’s dawn.”

“Here! Drink one of these and cheer up to finish well.”

Team Leader Choi encouraged the reception staff by handing out the drinks he had bought.

“Thank you for the drink.”

“Me too. Team leader.”

“Everyone was so busy, right?”

“Don’t even mention it.”

“It was so busy with outpatients and emergency room patients.”

“But it’s natural to be busy because of the patients, but it’s a bit difficult to be busy because of the reporters.”

Since the comments were posted on the Nutube video, inquiries from reporters wanting to interview Tae-kyung have been pouring in.

“Wouldn’t it be better if Doctor Kim did an interview once at this point?”

“I encouraged him, saying it was a good opportunity, but he said he wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“He said that if he does an interview, it will be difficult to treat patients properly.”

In fact, Team Leader Choi was planning to promote the hospital properly through Tae-kyung.

However, after hearing Tae-kyung’s words that patients come first, he respected his wishes.

“But I heard that Doctor Kim was unfairly kicked out of the university hospital, is that true?”

“Hey! Don’t say things like that carelessly.”

“Someone left that comment on YouTube.”

“Well, but Doctor Kim doesn’t look like a university hospital style.”

“That’s right. We all know because we’ve been to university hospitals.”

“I know it well. Doctors who are good at their work and care about their patients can’t survive in university hospital politics.”

“At this point, wouldn’t that hospital be regretting it now?”

“Of course, they’ll regret it a lot.”

“Why do university hospitals always try to create star doctors?”

“I know. Maybe the person who kicked him out is jealous.”

As Team Leader Choi said, Shinhwa University Hospital was in an uproar over the issue of kicking out Tae-kyung.