29: Chapter 29: Major Upgrade! Gratitude Points Exceed 1000!
7:00 PM.
Another piece of news came from the Red Zone.
A sixty-two-year-old elderly person, sitting by the window of the bus.
In the accident, the window shattered directly, and glass pierced into the right thoracic cavity.
When they were brought in, the hemothorax was already severe, and their blood pressure kept dropping.
An Operating Room was cleared, and an emergency thoracotomy was performed.
The accumulated blood in the thoracic cavity was cleared, and the bleeding was stopped.
However, the elderly person suffered cardiac arrest once on the operating table, and although they were resuscitated, the duration of cerebral hypoxia was not short.
Now they have been transferred to the ICU, with Tracheal intubation and ventilator support, so the subsequent outcome is still uncertain.
Director Li Sen stood at the entrance of the ICU, explaining the situation to the ICU director.
Lu Chen passed by, paused for a moment, and listened to a few sentences.
"Approximately how long was the cerebral hypoxia?"
"At least seven minutes. It's hard to say specifically; it depends on the subsequent recovery of consciousness."
The ICU director sighed.
"Seven minutes, that might be a bit troublesome."
Director Li Sen didn't speak; he nodded and turned to leave.
Lu Chen followed, walking two steps, when Director Li Sen suddenly turned his head to look at him.
"Today in the Yellow Zone, do you know how many patients you received alone?"
"I haven't counted yet; Sister Fang has the records."
"I had someone check; it was thirty-one." Director Li Sen paused for a moment. "You handled thirty-one patients alone, with most receiving effective treatment."
"Among them were two critical cases: one splenic injury promptly transferred to surgery, and one epidural hematoma that you discovered first."
"That child's surgery is going smoothly now. Director Liu of the Neurosurgery Department said that if it hadn't been discovered early, they might not have made it off the operating table."
Lu Chen didn't speak.
"Hmm, you did well today."
After saying this, Director Li Sen turned and left.
Just that one sentence, no expression, no nonsense.
But Lu Chen knew that the phrase "did well" coming from Director Li Sen's mouth had the same weight as someone else saying "very impressive."
He stood in his original spot, silently treasuring those words in his heart.
After treasuring them, he continued to work.
... 8:00 PM.
The heavy rain outside finally slowed down gradually.
It was still raining, but the violent sensation of it hitting the windows had disappeared, turning into a normal heavy rain, and it might turn into moderate rain after a while.
The reception speed of the Emergency Department finally slowed down a little bit.
It wasn't because there were fewer patients, but because most of the casualties had already been triaged.
Those who needed surgery had entered the Operating Room, those needing hospitalization had their beds arranged, and those needing observation were properly settled.
What remained was to watch over this group of people.
Watching various indicators to ensure no one developed complications.
Lu Chen sat in the duty chair in the Yellow Zone, leaning against the backrest, and finally drank his first sip of water of the day.
It was brought over by Head Nurse Fang Ying and had already gone cold.
He didn't care and gulped down more than half of it.
He had been thirsty for nearly four hours.
"Sister Fang, how many people are there in the Yellow Zone now?"
"Thirty-eight under observation, and seven extra beds in the hallway, for a total of forty-five."
Forty-five. Under normal conditions, the Yellow Zone was considered busy at full capacity of twenty, but today it was nearly two and a half times that.
"How are those priority patients doing?"
"The elderly gentleman with the concussion had his CT results out this afternoon; no intracranial hemorrhage, and his symptoms have improved a lot. He is preparing for discharge observation tomorrow. The female patient with the splenic injury has already been transferred to the General Surgery Department. The surgery is done; it was a ruptured spleen, but fortunately, she was sent in early, so there was no massive bleeding."
Lu Chen nodded and set down the water cup in his hand.
"After this battle today, I feel like I've aged three years." Head Nurse Fang Ying sat down beside him, rubbing her neck. "I've been a Nurse for over a decade, but with this volume today, I felt like a spinning top."
"You've worked hard, Sister Fang."
"You've worked even harder. How many wounds did those hands of yours suture today?"
Lu Chen thought for a moment.
"I didn't count, but it should be quite a few."
Head Nurse Fang Ying glanced at his hands.
Those hands were now resting quietly on his knees, looking nothing special.
But Head Nurse Fang Ying had watched those hands with her own eyes; they hadn't stopped for a moment today.
Suturing, physical examinations, treatments, procedures.
From 8:00 AM until now, there was only one break to go to the restroom.
"Aren't your hands sore?"
"It's alright."
"Are you made of iron?"
"I am a Surgical Blade."
After Lu Chen said this, he froze for a moment, then closed his mouth without changing his expression.
Because this achievement title was in the system, if he said it out loud, others would think he was crazy.
Head Nurse Fang Ying saw him suddenly stop and gave him a strange look.
"Surgical Blade?"
"It's nothing, just saying it casually. My skills are good, so I'm just boasting a little."
Head Nurse Fang Ying was silent for two seconds, then burst out laughing.
"Alright then, you certainly have the right to boast."
... 8:40 PM.
At this moment, the system quietly popped up the settlement panel.
It didn't pop up suddenly; Lu Chen discovered it only after checking it voluntarily.
He stared at that panel for quite a while.
[Daily Stage Settlement]
[Number of casualties participated in treating: 31 (Yellow Zone) + several auxiliary collaborations]
[Triggered cross-level diagnosis: 1 time (early identification of epidural hematoma, young inexperienced doctor identifying high-risk brain injury)]
[Cross-level critical multiplier: 3x]
[Summary of skill experience gained:]
[Host: Lu Chen]
[Identity: Trainee Physician (Jiangcheng City Central Hospital · Emergency Department)]
[Skill Panel]
[Manual Hemostasis: Master level, progress 29/100]
[Suturing: Perfect level, progress 29/100]
[Basic Surgical Operations: Proficient level, progress 41/100]
[Internal Medicine Diagnostics: Skilled level, progress 31/100]
[Laparoscopic Appendectomy: Master level, progress 64/100]
[Basic Theory of Emergency Medicine mastery progress: 33%]
[Current total gratitude points: 1080 points]
[Available lottery draws: 0 times]
[Title Column]
[Currently equipped: enemy of yama (Primary), newcomer: surgical blade]
[Effect: When a dying patient is within 10 meters of the host, the rate of decline of vital signs is slowed by 50%]
[Effect: When performing surgery, hand stability is permanently increased by 10%]
Internal Medicine Diagnostics had broken through from Introductory level to Skilled level.
Lu Chen stared at this line of text for several seconds, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
Today alone was worth almost a month of work in the Green Zone.
This was the rhythm the Yellow Zone should have.
... 9:00 PM sharp.
The corridor of the Emergency Department was much quieter.
Most family members had already been persuaded to go to the family waiting area.
They couldn't be allowed to crowd the corridor, affecting the medical staff's work passages.
Lu Chen went to do the final round of ward checks, going over the condition of every bed in the Yellow Zone.
Then he wrote down the conditions of the few patients needing special attention and the handover records, waiting for the night shift doctors to arrive.
Two night shift doctors came today.
Usually it was one, but because of the special situation today, the department temporarily added one.
When the two night shift doctors came in and saw the corridor full of patients, they were both stunned for a moment.
"My God..."
"What happened today..."
Lu Chen explained briefly.
"A bus and a coach collided, over a hundred people."
"There are forty-five under observation in the Yellow Zone now. I have written down the conditions of the priority patients for you on this paper."
"The ones marked in red are those that need close monitoring. If there are any changes, call Director Li directly."
The two night shift doctors took the paper and glanced at it; it was densely packed with notes, very detailed.
One of the night shift doctors looked up at Lu Chen.
"You are Lu Chen?"
"Yes."
"The one who is a Trainee Physician?"
"Yes."
That night shift doctor was silent for a moment, then folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket.
"Alright, I understand. You go and rest."
The tone was a little more polite than usual, which Lu Chen could feel.