48: Chapter 48 The Red Zone in the Emergency Department is indeed different!
Monday, 6:15 AM.
The alarm hadn't gone off yet, but Lu Chen was already awake.
He lay on the bed for three seconds, then sat up.
Today was his first day officially entering the Red Zone.
While washing up, Lu Chen glanced at his phone. On the small table at the Nurse Station, there was indeed a small card, the one Shen Xiaoning had mentioned last night.
The card was drawn with great care; it featured a little person wearing a white coat, with four characters written next to it: "Red Zone, Fighting!"
The handwriting was round, which at a glance was clearly written by The girl.
Lu Chen looked at it for two seconds, then tucked the card into the pocket of his white coat.
It wasn't because he was touched.
It was because if he threw it away and Shen Xiaoning happened to see it, it wouldn't be very nice.
One must have basic manners.
...
After changing his clothes, Lu Chen left the Duty Room and headed toward the Emergency Department.
The air in the corridor felt different.
It wasn't a difference in freshness or tension, but the sounds coming from the direction of the Red Zone were different.
The sounds in the Yellow Zone were noisy—patients complaining, family members anxious, Nurses calling out names. Although it was loud, there was a sense of order.
The sounds in the Red Zone were sharp: the alarms of the ECG monitors, the whirring of ventilators, the intermittent sound of hurried footsteps, and the occasional short, sharp command.
These sounds were not background noise.
They were a death knell.
Lu Chen took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to the Red Zone.
The moment he pushed the door open, a scent mixed with disinfectant and the smell of blood rushed toward him.
It was more than three times stronger than in the Yellow Zone.
The layout of the Red Zone was completely different from the Yellow Zone.
The Yellow Zone was an open observation area with rows of hospital beds arranged neatly, separated by curtains in the middle, and the Nurse Station was in the central position, making it convenient to observe all patients.
The Red Zone was different.
The core of the Red Zone consisted of three independent Resuscitation Rooms, each equipped with a full set of ECG monitors, defibrillators, ventilators, and emergency carts.
Outside the Resuscitation Rooms was a semi-open treatment area, used to handle patients who didn't yet need to enter a Resuscitation Room but whose conditions were also not optimistic.
Further out from the treatment area was a small Triage Desk, specifically used to receive critical patients sent by the 120 ambulance service.
The entire area of the Red Zone was less than half that of the Yellow Zone, but the density of equipment was three times that of the Yellow Zone.
The space was compact, personnel were concentrated, and the pace was extremely fast.
Lu Chen stood at the entrance and took a quick glance.
Of the three Resuscitation Rooms, two were in use, and one was empty.
There were four beds in the treatment area; three were occupied—one patient was receiving an IV, one was on oxygen, and another had a drainage tube inserted, with two Nurses standing by the bedside, busy at work.
Behind the Triage Desk sat a Nurse in her thirties, who was on the phone, speaking at an extremely fast pace.
Lu Chen recognized her; that was the Red Zone's Head Nurse, Meng Yan.
"Mm, got it. How many minutes until arrival? Five minutes? Okay, I'll prepare on my end; Resuscitation Room No. 1 just became available."
Meng Yan hung up the phone and looked up to see Lu Chen standing at the entrance.
"Are you the new one?"
"Lu Chen, Resident Physician, officially transferred to the Red Zone today."
Meng Yan looked him up and down.
"Oh, so it's you. Director Li has already told me. You stay in the treatment area for now, and I'll arrange things for you once Doctor Zhao arrives."
"Alright."
Lu Chen walked to the treatment area and found a spot out of the way to stand.
He noticed that the Nurses in the Red Zone walked significantly faster than those in the Yellow Zone, and almost no one was chatting.
Nurses in the Yellow Zone would occasionally chat about gossip at the Nurse Station, but in the Red Zone, from the moment he entered until now, everyone was working; not a single person was idle.
This was the Red Zone.
It wasn't just work; it was going to the battlefield.
About five minutes later, Zhao Yaqin arrived.
She was wearing her standard attire today—short hair paired with a white coat—but her expression was a notch more serious than when she was in the Yellow Zone.
"You're here?"
"Good morning, Teacher Zhao."
"Come on, let me take you through the procedures of the Red Zone first."
Zhao Yaqin took Lu Chen on a tour of the Red Zone, from the Resuscitation Rooms to the treatment area, from the equipment cabinets to the emergency carts; she explained every detail very carefully.
"There is only one core principle in the Red Zone: speed."
"In the Yellow Zone, you can spend ten minutes on a consultation, five minutes on a physical examination, and half an hour waiting for test results."
"That won't do in the Red Zone."
"For patients brought in, from the first moment you see them, you must form a preliminary judgment in your mind, complete a basic assessment within thirty seconds, and initiate the emergency protocol within one minute."
"If you exceed this time, the patient might be gone."
Lu Chen nodded.
"Also, the doctor-to-Nurse ratio in the Red Zone is different from the Yellow Zone. In the Yellow Zone, one doctor is paired with two to three Nurses; in the Red Zone, one doctor is paired with one Nurse, and sometimes even a one-to-one ratio cannot be guaranteed."
"So, not only do you need to know how to treat patients, but you also need to know how to do the Nurses' work—administering medication, preparing IV fluids, changing tubes—don't hesitate when you need to get hands-on."
"Understood."
Zhao Yaqin looked at him.
"I know your skills are good, but the Red Zone is not just a matter of technique. Here, it tests your judgment and stress resistance under high pressure. In the Yellow Zone, if you make a wrong judgment, there is still time for a buffer, but in the Red Zone, a wrong move means a life."
"I will be careful."
"Mm, today you just follow me, watch how I handle patients in the Red Zone, and don't rush to get hands-on."
Lu Chen originally wanted to say that he could handle it directly, but after thinking about it, he nodded anyway.
Zhao Yaqin was his mentor, and he had to respect her arrangements.
Besides, what she said made sense; he really wasn't fully familiar with the rhythm of the Red Zone yet.
Observe first, then get hands-on; this was the safest approach.
Just as they were speaking, the doors to the Red Zone were pushed open.
Lu Chen instinctively turned his head to look.
Then he froze for a moment.
The person pushing the door open and entering was Shen Xiaoning.
She was wearing a Nurse's uniform, holding a folder in her hand, with an expression on her face that showed she was trying hard to appear calm but was clearly a little nervous.
"Sister Fang told me to come to the Red Zone to report."
Shen Xiaoning's voice was a little quiet.
Meng Yan looked up from behind the Triage Desk.
"Are you the new Nurse? Shen Xiaoning?"
"Yes."
"Weren't you assigned to the Yellow Zone? Why are you here in the Red Zone?"
"I was notified temporarily this morning. They said the Red Zone was short-staffed, so they pulled a Nurse from the Yellow Zone to support, and Sister Fang sent me."
Meng Yan frowned.
"Fine, since you're here, you're here. You follow Xiao Zhou first; she will tell you the rules of the Red Zone."
"Alright!"
Shen Xiaoning responded, and when she turned around, she saw Lu Chen standing in the treatment area.
Her eyes lit up instantly.
Then she quickly lowered her head, pretending to look at the folder.
But the tips of her ears were clearly red.
Lu Chen saw it, but didn't say anything.
He walked over to Zhao Yaqin and lowered his voice.
"Teacher Zhao, why was Shen Xiaoning transferred to the Red Zone? Hasn't she only been in the Emergency Department for less than a week?"
Zhao Yaqin was also a bit surprised, but she quickly regained her composure.
"The Red Zone is indeed short of people. Last week, a Nurse took maternity leave, and the position hasn't been filled yet. Sister Fang has relatively sufficient staff in the Yellow Zone, so it's normal to transfer one over."
"Can she handle it? The intensity of the Red Zone is too different from the Yellow Zone."
"Let's see for now. Sister Fang said her basic skills are good, and she is diligent, so the Red Zone is a good place for her to get some training."
Lu Chen didn't say anything more.
He always felt that this arrangement was a bit coincidental, but he couldn't say what was wrong with it.
Forget it, he wouldn't think about it anymore.
Focus on his own work.