Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Despair (1)
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Baek Eun-seo's quiet words hit harder and faster than any ancient god's curse.
Even hurling double curses at God, Buddha, and Allah all at once probably wouldn't pack as much punch.
The brief peace in the emergency room shattered into pieces.
As soon as the nurse picked up the receiver, frantic, garbled shouting poured out from the other end.
The nurse's face grew darker by the second.
"Yes, yes, where's the location? Truck versus sedan... Yes... Patient's condition? Hold on. Connecting you to the doctor right now."
Truck versus sedan?
I had to get the details here first.
Was the truck driver incoming, or the sedan driver?
Any passengers?
"Han! Take this, doctor! It's a trauma call!"
I brought the trembling receiver to my ear.
"Yes, this is Emergency Medicine's Han Hyun-jae."
[Yes, doctor! Dongnae Sajik ambulance! Truck versus sedan TA at the entrance to Man-deok Tunnel!]
Sirens and all sorts of noise mixed together from the receiver.
This sounded like a big one.
"Patient's age? How long for extrication? Pulled out right away?"
[20s male patient, sedan driver! Was pinned in the vehicle, extricated after 20 minutes.]
I reflexively grabbed a pen and started scribbling everything I heard onto the blank A4 paper in front of me like a madman.
"Patient's status? Vitals?"
[Mental stupor (*confusion), BP 70/40, pulse over 140 and racing! Suspected open pelvic fracture with heavy bleeding! GCS on scene E1V2M4, 7 points! ETA 5 minutes!]
GCS 7.
Near coma.
BP 70/40.
Shock state.
And open pelvic fracture.
Worst of the worst.
Chance of aortic or major venous injury?
High.
Hellish injury with mortality easily over 50%.
This was the worst.
My hand flew across the paper.
- Open Pelvic Fx / GCS 7 / 70/40, HR 140+ / ETA 5min
As I wrote, I saw the first-years staring at the paper with grave expressions.
Welcome to the ER, babies.
I tore off a corner of the paper and scrawled on it.
'Call all specialist doctors ASAP.'
I silently shoved the paper into Park Seong-jeong's hand.
He stared blankly for a second, then got it and bolted toward the doctors' lounge.
Still holding the receiver to my ear with one hand, I started typing on the keyboard with the other.
Let's see... ICU... ICU...
[Trauma ICU (TICU-01)]
[19/20]
'ICU... One TICU bed free. OK. OR... No ongoing emergency surgeries.'
I fired questions at the paramedic while mentally mapping out the worst-case scenario.
"IV lines secured in both arms? How much fluid in?"
[18-gauge in one arm, 1L wide open, but barely any BP response!]
Right then, Lee Min-jae burst into the station.
I silently slid my scribbled memo toward him.
Lee Min-jae's face hardened. Then he glanced back and forth between me and the screen I'd pulled up.
I jotted two short words in the margin with my pen.
'Accept OK?'
Lee Min-jae didn't hesitate a second. He nodded at me firmly.
I brought the receiver back to my mouth.
"Yes, we'll accept."
I hung up and turned to Lee Min-jae standing behind me.
"Patient ETA 5 minutes! Forming the team now? I'll take lead... I'll be team leader, assigning roles starting now!"
My finger pointed at each one precisely.
"Han Jae-eon!"
"Yes, doctor."
"You're the most senior, so Airway. When patient arrives, protect C-spine while checking airway status. If needed, prep for intubation without hesitation."
"Got it."
Han Jae-eon gave a curt reply and started checking the laryngoscope and tubes for intubation.
"Han Hyun-jae!"
"Yes, doctor."
"You're Circulation. When patient comes in, flank with me, find and control visible bleeds first. While I do FAST, you compress abdomen or pelvis to help maintain BP. Stay sharp."
"Yes!"
"Baek Eun-seo!"
"Yes, doctor!"
Baek Eun-seo, freshly minted first-year, had gone pale with extreme tension.
"You're procedures. Prep 18-gauge IVs for both arms, pull ABGA kit, Foley catheter set. Execute whatever we call out immediately. Got it?"
"Yes! Got it!"
"Last, Park Seong-jeong!"
"Y-yes!"
Park Seong-jeong looked on the verge of tears.
Hold it together.
Suck up this hell during your shift for the sake of your work-life balance.
"You're on records. Stand by the whiteboard. From now on, log every procedure we do, patient vitals, drugs and doses we use, time down to the second. OK?"
"Yes!"
Just like that, our ragtag group turned into a team in an instant.
Roles assigned.
I rushed to the resuscitation hallway, threw on the heavy lead apron.
Vinyl gown over that, gloves on, face shield last.
Amid the bustle, Lee Min-jae's bellow rang out.
"Hey, Park Seong-jeong! Face shield!"
"Ah, y-yes! Sorry!"
Park Seong-jeong had been so tensed up he'd forgotten basic PPE.
He fumbled for the face shield and slapped it on.
"Heading into battle without your gun? Get your head in the game!"
As Lee Min-jae's scolding ended, Baek Eun-seo shouted from the station after hanging up.
"Doctors! Just called trauma surgery and orthopedics on call—they'll come down as soon as they're done!"
"Good!"
Nurses dashed around to their positions.
One wheeled in the crash cart, another prepped fluids and blood sets.
Park Seong-jeong stood by the whiteboard, face ashen, hands shaking as he uncapped the marker.
How's he gonna make it as an ER doc shaking like that?
All prepped.
We took positions around Resus Bed 1 like it was choreographed.
Silence.
Not a sound.
Only the faint ambulance siren growing louder in the distance, squeezing our hearts tighter.
Wheeeeoooooo—
The siren now screamed right outside, tearing at our eardrums.
Vreeee—
Auto doors slid open.
Screeech—Bang!
The stretcher cart barreled into resus like it would smash the door.
"20s male! Truck TA! 20 minutes extrication, LOC dropped again en route!"
Paramedic's urgent briefing.
Stretcher wheels grinding on the floor.
And horrific intermittent groans from the patient.
"Ugh... ugh... ah... ah...."
Sharp beeps as monitor connected—every sound tangled, turning resus into a hell of noise.
"One, two, three!"
We transferred him to the bed.
"Suction ready, suction tip!"
Han Jae-eon yelled from the head, laryngoscope in hand.
"Breath sounds decreased on left! Portable chest!"
Lee Min-jae shouted, stethoscope on chest.
"Pulse thready, peripherals not palpable! BP keeps dropping!"
Baek Eun-seo cried out, gripping the patient's wrist, voice cracking.
"Hey, another line! Femoral if you have to! Slam fluids wide open!"
I started cutting away the patient's blood- and dirt-soaked clothes with the intern using scissors.
Holy shit. What is this?
Under the shredded pants, shattered bone pierced through skin from the pelvis.
The area soaked in dark red blood.
And the abdomen.
Globally bruised blue-black.
Not hugely distended visually, but rock-hard to palpation.
"Fuck... Open pelvic fracture with massive hemoperitoneum...."
Lee Min-jae muttered a low curse.
"MTP! MTP! Call blood bank, Rh-negative O, 4 units stat, 10 more on standby—now!"
Park Seong-jeong blurted in panic.
"Doctor, we don't even have blood type yet..."
"Crossmatch be damned, just bring it! It's MTP! What good's blood type after he codes!"
Everything spiraling to worst-case.
BP kept tanking despite fluids.
The hard-won IV clotted from low pressure backflow.
Portable X-ray delayed by another emergent patient.
"Total clusterfuck! Nothing's going right!"
Lee Min-jae yanked at his hair with gloved hands.
Senior, that's contaminated... gloved...