24: Chapter 24 Fang Ying, Head Nurse of the Yellow Zone
Lu Chen walked straight to the Yellow Zone.
Today was his first day officially on duty in the Yellow Zone.
At the Yellow Zone's Nurse Station, a female Nurse in her early thirties was organizing nursing records. When she saw Lu Chen enter, she looked up at him.
"Are you the newcomer?"
"Yes, I'm Lu Chen. I'm starting my shift in the Yellow Zone today."
The Nurse sized him up, her expression showing a hint of surprise.
"You're Lu Chen?"
"Yes."
"The Lu Chen who performed a laparoscopic appendectomy in twenty-three minutes?"
"News travels fast."
The Nurse couldn't help but take a few more looks at him.
"I'm the nursing team leader of the Yellow Zone, Fang Ying. You can call me Sister Fang. Your mentor is Teacher Zhao Yaqin. She usually arrives at 7:30, so wait at the Nurse Station for a moment."
"Alright, Sister Fang."
Fang Ying gave a hum of acknowledgment and lowered her head to continue organizing documents.
After about two seconds, she looked up again.
"How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-four."
"Twenty-four..."
Fang Ying nodded meaningfully and said nothing more.
But there was clearly more scrutiny in her eyes.
Lu Chen didn't mind. He found a chair, sat down, and began to familiarize himself with the environment of the Yellow Zone.
The observation room in the Yellow Zone had twenty beds, and fifteen patients were currently lying there.
The density was much higher than in the Green Zone.
...
At 7:20, Zhao Yaqin arrived.
She was wearing a white coat, and her hair was mostly wet; she had clearly been caught in the rain outside.
"Teacher Zhao, didn't you bring an umbrella?"
"I did, but it was useless. The wind was too strong, and I couldn't keep it open."
Zhao Yaqin shook the water droplets from her hair and found a towel in a drawer to dry herself.
"How long have you been here?"
"About twenty minutes."
"Alright, then I'll walk you through the basic procedures of the Yellow Zone."
Zhao Yaqin spoke while drying her hair.
"The Yellow Zone is different from the Green Zone. The patients here all require observation, and their conditions are more complex. Once you take over, you'll need to do more than just diagnose and prescribe medicine; you'll also need to perform continuous condition monitoring and dynamic assessments."
"Understood."
"You need to be aware of every patient's situation in every bed—who needs which tests, whose indicators need re-checking, and who might deteriorate. You must think ahead."
"Okay."
"One more thing."
Zhao Yaqin put down the towel and looked at him.
"It's pouring rain today, so the patient volume in the Emergency Department will definitely be much larger than usual. Be mentally prepared."
"I'm already prepared."
"Good."
Zhao Yaqin nodded.
"Go perform ward rounds first and go over the conditions of all current observation patients."
"Alright."
Lu Chen stood up, took a medical record clipboard, and began his rounds bed by bed.
The fifteen observation patients in the Yellow Zone had varying conditions.
There were those with acute gastroenteritis under IV observation, those waiting for re-examination after trauma Suturing, Cardiology Department patients waiting for hospitalization arrangements, and those with fevers of unknown origin.
Lu Chen checked them one by one, using the 'Eye of Truth' to scan each patient.
Everyone's condition matched their existing diagnosis; there were no hidden issues.
This put his mind at ease slightly.
By the time he finished rounds and returned, it was nearly eight o'clock.
The morning meeting began on time.
Li Sen arrived today as well, though he came directly from the Red Zone, looking as if he had already been working for a while.
The morning meeting was brief, mainly explaining the emergency plan for today's stormy weather.
"There's a red rainstorm warning today, everyone be prepared."
"The number of trauma and traffic accident cases will definitely rise. All zones must remain mobile and ready to provide support at any time."
After Li Sen finished speaking, he glanced at Lu Chen.
"Lu Chen, today is your first day in the Yellow Zone. Work hard under Zhao Yaqin and don't cause any trouble for me."
"Understood."
The morning meeting ended.
Lu Chen returned to the Yellow Zone, officially beginning his first day of work there.
...
8:10 AM.
The first new patient for the Yellow Zone arrived.
It was a man in his fifties, being supported by two people as he walked in.
His forehead was wrapped in a blood-soaked towel; the blood had permeated several layers of fabric and was dripping down his cheek.
The man's wife was beside him, frantic with worry.
"Doctor! Doctor! My husband hit his head, he's bleeding so much!"
Fang Ying immediately went to meet them and led the man to an empty observation bed.
"How did he get hurt?"
"It was pouring rain, and he went out to close the windows. The hallway was too slippery, he missed a step, and his head hit the corner of a stair."
Lu Chen walked over and put on gloves.
"Sir, I'm Dr. Lu. Let me take a look at your wound first."
He gently lifted the towel from the man's forehead.
The blood was still seeping. The wound was on the left side of the forehead, a gash about four centimeters long with irregular edges, and the subcutaneous tissue could be seen everted.
It was a laceration caused by the sharp edge of the step.
Lu Chen activated the 'Eye of Truth'.
[Eye of Truth scan complete]
[Patient Information: Male, 54 years old]
[Chief Complaint: Bleeding from a forehead laceration after a fall about 30 minutes ago]
[Eye of Truth Diagnosis: Full-thickness laceration of the forehead skin, approximately 4.2cm long, deep to the Galea Aponeurotica; no bone injury, no intracranial damage]
[Risk Level: Low]
[Current Symptoms: Active bleeding, wound contamination (dirt and debris), mild dizziness (reaction to blood loss)]
[Recommendation: Debridement and Suturing, Tetanus Antitoxin injection, pressure dressing]
[Warning: None]
The risk level was low, and there was no intracranial injury.
Lu Chen knew what to do.
"Sir, the wound is quite deep and needs stitches, but it's not serious. It didn't hit the bone, so don't worry."
The man's wife let out a long breath of relief.
"That's good, that's good. Doctor, please hurry and stitch it for him."
Lu Chen looked back at Zhao Yaqin.
Zhao Yaqin nodded.
"You handle it, I'll watch."
Lu Chen turned to Fang Ying and said, "Please prepare a Debridement and Suturing kit, Lidocaine, a saline flush, and Tetanus Antitoxin."
"Alright, right away."
Fang Ying moved very efficiently, and in less than two minutes, everything was ready.
Lu Chen sat by the man's bed and first used saline to carefully irrigate the wound.
There was some sand and debris inside the wound that needed to be thoroughly cleaned out, otherwise it would be prone to infection after Suturing.
After three flushes, the wound was clean.
Next was local anesthesia.
Lidocaine was injected along both sides of the wound edges. Lu Chen's needle entry angle was very shallow and his speed was steady; the man only frowned slightly.
"Does it hurt?"
"It's okay, just a little sting."
"Wait a minute. Once the anesthetic takes effect, it won't hurt anymore."
A minute later, Lu Chen used forceps to gently touch the edges of the wound.
"Any feeling?"
"None."
"Then I'll start stitching. Just stay still."
Lu Chen picked up the needle holder, gripped the curved needle, and threaded the suture.
Then he began to suture.
This was his perfect-level skill.
Perfect-level Suturing Technique.
With the first stitch, the entry point was exactly 3 millimeters from the wound edge, the depth penetrated the full thickness of the skin, and the exit point was perfectly symmetrical to the entry point.
Knot, tighten, cut.
Clean and decisive.
The second stitch's spacing was almost identical to the first.
Third stitch, fourth stitch, fifth stitch.
The spacing, depth, and angle of every stitch maintained an astonishing consistency.
The sutures were lined up neatly on the wound, the stitch intervals so even they seemed unreal.
Fang Ying stood by handing him instruments. She was calm at first, but by the third stitch, she was no longer composed.
She had been a Nurse for over a decade and had seen countless doctors suture wounds.
Attending physicians, associate chief physicians, chief physicians—she had seen them all.
But she had never seen Suturing this beautiful.
This wasn't Suturing a wound; this was embroidery.
No, even embroidery might not be this precise.