Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Triage (3)

“Huh? Why?”

Joong-won hyung looked back at me.

He looked like he was half out of his mind.

There was a type of person who, despite being resourceful usually, was particularly weak in handling crises.

Joong-won hyung was one of them.

He was so tense, and after being scolded by the professor, he seemed to have fallen into a state of panic.

I had a strong feeling that I shouldn’t entrust him with anything important right now.

I approached him and whispered,

“I’ll run the blood test.”

“You?”

“My arm is getting numb from holding the tourniquet. I need to catch my breath while the machine runs the test. Could you switch with me for a bit?”

“Uh… sure, okay.”

Thump, thump!

I made a quick excuse, took the syringe from him, and started running.

I suddenly remembered what Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol had told me a few days ago.

“There are countless mistakes in the ER. Unlike the wards, new patients keep pouring in, and you interns are practically on the verge of collapse in the last 6 hours of your 24-hour shift. You can easily lose your focus.”

I shook the syringe to prevent the arterial blood from clotting and ran towards the blood gas analyzer.

And as expected…

The result sheet from the previous patient was still stuck in the machine.

“Be especially careful with arterial blood tests. You could easily mistake it for another patient’s test results. It seems obvious now, but when you’re busy, you can make mistakes you wouldn’t normally make.”

‘This is it!’

Was this the mistake mentioned in the vision?

Mixing up test results was a common occurrence.

The CIBA machine produced arterial blood gas analysis results in 90 seconds.

You could manually enter the patient’s ID into the machine, and in the chaos of an emergency, there was a risk of entering the wrong number.

Moreover, the test results, printed like receipts, could easily get mixed up with the previous patient’s results.

It might not be a big deal normally, but when dealing with a patient between life and death, there was no room for error.

Whirr—

I carefully took out the correct test results and ran back to the resuscitation room.

The whole process took only about two minutes.

“Here are the ABGA results!”

The professor took the results I handed him and his eyes widened.

“Hemoglobin 7.8?”

The red blood cell count was too low.

It was a warning sign that there was another source of bleeding somewhere.

The professor’s voice became urgent.

“There’s another bleeding site, not the external ones we can see.”

“Professor, then…”

“It’s internal bleeding.”

Internal bleeding was bleeding that occurred inside the body.

It was harder to detect than external bleeding because it wasn’t visible to the naked eye.

If internal bleeding was occurring in a vital organ, it could be life-threatening!

The doctors sprang into action.

“Full drip on the 1L plasma solution that’s going in!”

“The order for 3 units of RBC (red blood cell transfusion) is out. Call the blood bank and ask them to send it up quickly!”

“When is the portable X-ray arriving?!”

Clank!

As soon as the machine arrived, Yeo Bong-cheol shouted urgently,

“C-spine, Chest AP, Pelvic AP (cervical spine, chest, and pelvis X-ray), take them quickly!”

“Understood. Step back!”

The machine was quickly prepared.

Normally, when taking X-rays, people had to wear protective gear or move away to avoid radiation exposure.

But Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol remained close to the patient, unmoving.

“The patient is dying, who cares about a little radiation? Just take the X-rays quickly.”

“Sir?”

“Hurry! Nurses and interns, get out of the room.”

Everyone moved away from the patient.

But I stayed where I was, with Yeo Bong-cheol.

“Shin Seon-han, what are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

I said, keeping my hand pressed on the wound to stop the bleeding.

Right now, we had to preserve every drop of blood leaking from the patient’s body.

“It’s just radiation. You get exposed to it even when you’re on a plane.”

“…Is that the same as this?!”

Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol glanced at me with a dumbfounded expression, then turned his attention back to the patient.

Well, he couldn’t say much since he was doing the same thing.

Self-sacrifice? Sense of duty?

…No, it wasn’t anything so grand and noble.

If I had to put it into words, it was [immersion].

At this moment, I was simply focused on ‘what needed to be done.’

Yeo Bong-cheol was a workaholic to the core.

And after a month of working in the ER, I was unknowingly becoming a bit like him.

Perhaps this was the sense of camaraderie I felt with Yeo Bong-cheol from the first day.

Beep—

Beep—

Several X-rays were taken, and the emergency medicine professor checked the results.

His sharp eyes quickly identified the problem.

“It’s the pelvis.”

“…!”

With that single word, all the doctors understood the situation.

It meant that the pelvis was fractured and dislocated due to the impact of the accident.

In such cases, internal bleeding of up to 2,000ml could occur.

The professor quickly gave the next order.

“Get a pelvic binder and contact OS (orthopedic surgery).”

“Yes!”

The paramedics quickly wrapped a compression bandage around the patient’s pelvis.

Fortunately, with the pelvic compression and the IV fluids and blood transfusion, her blood pressure started to rise.

Beep— Beep—

The rapid beeping of the monitor, synced with the patient’s pulse, started to slow down and return to normal.

Soon, the blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation levels on the monitor all returned to the normal range, and the patient started blinking her eyes.

“Whew—”

The doctors finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They had overcome the crisis for now.

With the patient’s vital signs stable, Yeo Bong-cheol calmed down and spoke in a composed voice.

“Professor, the vitals seem to be stable. Should we proceed with the CT scan?”

“Hmm… Yes. But don’t let your guard down, Bong-cheol. Don’t forget to continue the blood transfusion.”

“Understood.”

“Starting with the brain, take CT scans of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis, and get them interpreted. I’ll go check on the less urgent patients outside.”

“Yes, Professor!”

Clank—

After confirming that the patient’s vital signs were stable, she was transferred for a CT scan.

We had taken all the necessary measures in the ER.

‘…Was this a success?’

I felt relieved for the moment.

I could feel the tension draining from my hands.

‘At least there’s no problem so far.’

I finally caught my breath.

If Joong-won hyung had made a mistake, the discovery of the internal bleeding might have been delayed, putting the patient in danger.

Like a snowball rolling down a hill, even a small mistake could lead to a disastrous outcome.

Anyway, it was a relief that the most critical patient was being treated safely…

‘Wait, no.’

I quickly pulled myself together.

It was too early to relax.

There were still ten patients from the traffic accident, and I didn’t know where the problem might arise.

‘Don’t let your guard down until the end!’

It wasn’t over yet.

I couldn’t relax until this night was over.

***

“Ugh…”

“Doctor, it hurts.”

The resuscitation room was chaotic, but it was no different outside.

The ER was filled with the voices of people in pain.

Screams echoed from the procedure room where they were performing closed reduction on fracture patients.

“Aaargh…”

“Doctor, please see this patient quickly.”

It was a complete war zone.

With the orthopedic and neurosurgery doctors who came down to help, the ER was packed with people.

And with the guardians who heard the news and rushed in, the number of people kept increasing.

This was the moment I truly understood that the ER was the gateway to the hospital and the frontline.

“It’s chaotic.”

“Yeah.”

I briefly met So-dam’s eyes in front of the ABGA machine.

It was a record-breaking day.

I had never experienced such a hectic evening since starting my internship.

So-dam looked around and muttered,

“This is a wake-up call.”

“Really?”

“Seeing people being brought in with injuries… makes me feel silly for whining all this time.”

So-dam said with a complicated expression.

I chuckled.

Well, now wasn’t the time to be debating whether being a doctor suited me or not.

If bullets were raining down on a battlefield, would any soldier say that war didn’t suit them?

The ER was like that.

Everyone here had to become a fighter.

“But you’re doing well without making any mistakes. Like when you quickly found that patient’s wound earlier.”

I encouraged So-dam.

So-dam glanced at me and said,

“It’s thanks to you.”

“What?”

“You’ve helped me a lot during my time in the ER.”

So-dam said bluntly.

Her voice was small, but I could sense her sincerity.

…What did I even do?

Honestly, I couldn’t remember.

I was just acting in my own self-interest, but it seemed to have meant something to So-dam.

I asked lightly, trying to dispel the awkwardness,

“Do you still hate seeing patients?”

“I do. It’s scary.”

So-dam’s answer remained the same.

It seemed like a person’s nature wouldn’t change overnight.

“But I have to do what I have to do.”

So-dam said with a determined voice.

So-dam would probably continue to struggle with seeing patients.

But she was trying her best to fulfill her duty as a doctor.

‘I don’t have to worry about So-dam today.’

I felt certain of that.

Before the awkward atmosphere could linger any longer, I pointed at the blood gas analyzer.

“Hey, your results are coming out. Quickly grab them and move aside.”

“Okay.”

So-dam pouted and waited for the printed results.

I continued to shake the syringe with the blood sample, waiting for my turn.

Just then, a loud voice boomed.

“Hey! Who’s in charge here?!”

“…?”

The shout was deafening!

We all turned our heads towards the source of the noise.

In the middle of the ER.
A middle-aged couple was yelling at the top of their lungs.

Dressed in flashy, expensive clothes, they reeked of nouveau riche.

But why were they so angry?

A nurse hurriedly approached them.

“Excuse me, what’s the matter?”

“Are you neglecting your duties or something?”

“Excuse me?”

“Can’t you see that our son is injured?! Why aren’t you treating him right now?”

The man fumed, pointing in a certain direction.

There, they could see the high school student who had been driving without a license, his head hung low.

Huh…

Everyone’s minds went blank for a moment.

So, those were the high school student’s parents?

What arrogance.

Whose fault was this whole mess, and how could they act so self-righteous?

No matter how precious their son was to them, this situation was absurd.

Moreover, the high school student only had minor injuries.

He had a small cut on his lip, that was all, so he was inevitably low on the priority list.

But the parents were being stubborn and unreasonable.

“Do you know who we are?!”

“Get the person in charge right now! Otherwise, we’ll sue you all for negligence!”

The couple shouted in unison.

With their furrowed brows and loud yelling, they looked like demons.

Perhaps this was what they called a match made in hell?

While everyone was dumbfounded, the nurse finally spoke up.

“…Please calm down and stop shouting in the ER.”

“How can we not shout? Our precious son is being neglected!”

“There are many more urgent patients right now…”

“What?”

The wife stepped forward, her eyes flashing.

“Those people, it doesn’t matter if they’re treated sooner or later, does it? Shouldn’t you treat the ones who can be treated quickly first?!”

“Excuse me?”

The nurse was speechless.

Was this what they called “miracle logic”?

“Forget it, just get the person in charge of this ER!”

Saying that, the husband shoved the nurse.

“Aah!”

The nurse lost her balance and stumbled.

The situation was going from bad to worse.

Someone had to step in before security arrived.

But I couldn’t move recklessly because I was holding a syringe with arterial blood.

Just then, someone dashed forward.

“Stop it!”

It was an unexpected person.

The enraged hamster.

Ham So-dam stood in front of the guardians, fuming.

—————

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