Chapter 51: Blood [1]
Chapter 51: Blood [1]
“It’s blood!”
Using my abundant imagination, I reconstructed the parts I hadn’t been able to see.
It wasn’t difficult.
Those bastards.
Of course.
“Where?!”
Even though seeing blood was an everyday occurrence for Blundell, he still ran over in a panic.
Maybe that was why.
“The patient…… inside the house…… hemorrhaging……”
“Damn it.”
Could it be placenta previa?
I wasn’t exactly outstanding in obstetrics and gynecology either, so trying to predict it now was meaningless.
Back then, I’d only done a brief clinical rotation there.
Still, they said the patient was suffering massive bleeding.
That wasn’t uncommon.
Even in the 21st century, obstetrics and gynecology was one of the few departments where emergency patients could be rushed straight into surgery without anesthesia or consent forms.
That was how common severe hemorrhaging was.
“Get inside!”
“Yes!”
The problem was……
While 21st-century obstetrics could do almost anything, this era’s obstetrics could barely do anything at all.
They could at least attempt a caesarean section, but in an age without anesthesia, saving both mother and child was considered nearly impossible. At best, they could only save one of them.
Most of the time, both died.
And in cases like the one I suspected now, something like placenta previa, there was literally nothing they could do besides stuff cloth into it.
“It’s still coming out…… continuously.”
“You have to keep stuffing it in!”
Especially in terms of hemostasis, they were still stuck at a primitive level.
If anesthesia had existed, they could have opened the abdomen and performed a total hysterectomy if things looked truly dangerous.
But human ingenuity did not change that quickly.
Besides, this wasn’t some minor bleeding.
Bright red blood.
Some people fainted at the mere sight of a little blood, so once it started pouring out in streams, it was hard for anyone to stay calm.
“Uh…… the patient’s losing consciousness!”
“This damned war again! Again!”
It was hard to say it was fortunate.
Doctors were bound to grow accustomed to death, but for doctors of this era, it carried a different meaning.
They were too accustomed to it.
People died every day.
People who truly shouldn’t have died died helplessly.
In a way, it was inevitable.
In placenta previa, where blood flowed as the placenta tore apart, all they could do was stuff rags into the vaginal opening. Dirty rags, at that. Even calling that treatment was questionable.
Wouldn’t it be better to just pray the bleeding stopped on its own?
At least if the bleeding stopped, the risk of infection would decrease a little.
“What should we do? Move her to the observation room?”
“Mm.”
The observation room of this era was different from what we commonly called an ICU, or intensive care unit.
It literally meant observing.
Then, when the patient died, they lamented it.
Oh dear, such a pity.
Even so, among the guardians, there were people who actually preferred it.
Wasn’t it at least a place where they could spend the patient’s final moments together?
In a 19th-century hospital, where people sometimes came in with headaches only to die after bloodletting, that alone could be considered fortunate.
“No, no.”
Anyway, Dr. Blundell finally extended his hand.
Courage?
No, desperation.
The fact that I couldn’t freely speak here felt frustrating.
Ah…… did I plant the idea…… after all?
Not long ago—no, not even long ago, just yesterday.
Blundell and I had a somewhat meaningful conversation.
I had tried so hard to be careful……
But I had given him too many hints.
Especially about blood.
Specifically, the concept of fluid filling the blood vessels and circulating through the body……
“Give blood.”
“Yes? A blood transfusion? But…… uh…… where are we supposed to get a calf?”
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, 19th-century medical professionals already had some concept of blood transfusion.
They already knew the heart existed, and that when it beat, it sent blood through the vessels.
And they also knew that substances mixed into the blood could affect the entire body, and that animals dying from blood loss could survive if given blood.
What they didn’t know was what kind of blood to give.
Was it because they perceived giving human blood to another human as a form of bloodsucking?
Most hospitals used animal blood.
“No, we……”
What would happen if they gave animal blood to a person?
Even between humans, giving blood with a different blood type caused side effects like hemolysis, where red blood cells were destroyed, if the amount was small, and death if the amount was large. So if they gave animal blood……
Naturally, the history of surgery was practically synonymous with the history of death.
I got curious about what they did in this era and looked it up once, and that was apparently the case.
Because of this, the Papacy banned it entirely, though since the authority of the Papacy in England wasn’t exactly absolute, maybe nothing much happened here.
The nurses already knew the damage it caused, so their expressions darkened considerably.
“We’ll use human blood.”
Anyway, Professor Blundell made a shocking declaration.
The nurses’ expressions darkened even further, which was only natural.
No, not just them. Even the people around us began murmuring.
They couldn’t help it.
These were people without rational minds.
“S-That’s…… bloodsucking or something……”
“Y-Yes, that can’t be done!”
“Quiet! How long are you people going to cling to superstition?! What kind of scientists talk nonsense about bloodsucking and corpses coming back to life?!”
“Has anyone actually survived?!”
“What bullshit!”
“S-So, an Eastern…… magician from Joseon revived a corpse……”
“Shut up! I asked if a living person survived, and they brought that up. How am I supposed to…… ah, damn it. Why do I even keep these people around……”
Blundell wasn’t speaking to people who lacked faith. If anything, he was scolding those whose faith in superstition was too strong.
“The experiment where giving blood wakes them up. What did you use?”
“We used dog blood. Ah, then should we use dog blood? Honestly, using the blood of calves or young sheep was largely a conclusion derived from biblical thinking, wasn’t it?”
“Hmph.”
He was too furious to hold it in.
Dog blood?
Ha.
“You experimented by draining the dog’s blood and then giving it dog blood back! If a dog that lost blood receives dog blood, then what should a human who lost blood receive?!”
“Ah.”
“Human blood!”
If it had stopped there, humanity truly would have just witnessed a great leap forward.
The first case of treating hypovolemic shock with blood transfusion happened over a hundred years earlier.
But wasn’t that merely an “experiment” on dogs rather than actual treatment?
They never saved a human before.
It wasn’t that no one did it. Humanity itself simply hadn’t reached that point yet.
“Roll up your sleeves, everyone!”
Now?
Even now, they still hadn’t.
“Come on. We’re only drawing a little. We’re pooling it together anyway, so stop trembling. Don’t worry, I’ll donate too.”
Why?
Because they had no concept of blood types.
Which was understandable.
In an era where even the reason for surgery itself wasn’t clearly understood, knowing about blood types would have been stranger.
It was a reality where such a discovery could never happen accidentally unless there was a reason for it.
“Ha.”
I stared at the blood they collected in bowls.
Fortunately—or maybe not—the techniques for drawing blood and infusing it were poor enough that they hadn’t managed to inject much.
At most, maybe 100 milliliters went in.
“The patient’s looking a little better. See? Ha ha. It’s such wonderful news that it makes me think of my own children.”
The surprising part was that pile of blood.
In other words, despite making the blood by mixing random people’s blood together without any consideration for blood types, it still showed some effect.
“Oh……”
“Just earlier, she was completely unconscious.”
“Where’s…… the child……?”
“Oh, the child is outside. Don’t worry, ma’am. There may be some difficulties, but you’ll be fine.”
Certainly, aside from saline solution, blood was the best fluid for raising blood pressure lowered from hemorrhage.
After that entire bowl went in, the patient regained some awareness.
Watching it, I started hoping for a miracle with odds approaching zero in my head.
Could it be…… that all seven people here have matching blood types, and that they also match the patient’s blood type……?
If so, the patient might survive.
A 1 in 4 chance raised to the eighth power, so……
1 in 65,546. In other words, a probability of 0.000015 percent……
“Mm.”
To put it another way, it simply wasn’t possible.
And miracles weren’t things that happened easily.
Otherwise, why would they be called miracles……
Oh dear……
I lifted the bowl.
Of course, plasma clotting when exposed to oxygen was normal to a certain extent.
Coagulation existed, after all.
But it wasn’t supposed to clot this heavily.
Moreover, it hadn’t even been ten minutes since they injected it……
Statistically speaking, it’s safe to assume…… they mixed in every blood type.
There had to be Type O in there too……
But what did that matter?
Everything was mixed together.
Even if the patient had AB blood type, it wouldn’t matter.
It had already mixed.
This……
Was no different from administering poison.
“Uh, should we prepare some saline too? I’ll get it ready.”
The poison was practically antidote-level poison.
If a clot formed inside the blood……
What if it blocked a blood vessel leading to the brain or heart?
Stroke, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction.
Wow……
Fuck.
Every single one of them was such a magnificent disease of death that I immediately stood up without even thinking.
Normally I would have spent more time thinking about what should be done, but I didn’t know anymore.
I thought maybe giving water would at least help.
If they diluted it, since less than 100 milliliters seemed to have gone in, maybe it would have some effect.
“Ah…… what if we give more blood without doing that?”
And then our Blundell said something insane.
More blood?
Like that?
“B-But…… even if we didn’t draw much from each person, haven’t we still drawn a lot overall?”
“Compared to the blood we already drew, it’s practically nothing. We need to draw at least ten times more.”
Wow.
This bastard.
You’re opening the input and output this wide?
If I were really Dr. Robert, you’d be dead.
“Ah…… but would there be any volunteers? Before that, shouldn’t we at least…… give her plenty of water first?”
“Oh, the concept of giving that first?”
But I was Taepyeong, and this man was Professor Blundell.
Meaning you weren’t supposed to oppose a professor.
So I backed down for now.
Shouldn’t we do something before this bastard caused a disaster?
Even if he got excited over it, what could I do?
“Yes.”
“Alright, then let’s do that.”
After getting permission, I hurriedly moved.
The reality that a physician like me had to boil water first was honestly absurd.
Still, after doing this several times, my hands had gotten used to it, so I worked quickly.
“You do it like this?”
“Yeah. Distill it.”
“Huh. But isn’t distillation usually something done when making alcohol?”
“Just shut up and hurry. The patient’s dying. Didn’t you see earlier? She perked up once we injected fluid.”
“Uh, alright.”
Of course, there were assistants too.
People who had completely fallen for my lies and were doing their best.
If simply injecting water could save everyone…… why would people invent saline solutions and research artificial blood……
Naturally, I was doing my best too.