The phone rang at 2:17 in the afternoon.
The elderly Director Li Changgeng was sitting in his new office on a chair still slling of plastic wrap, squinting at the newly hung "Guandu Hospital Developnt Plan Map" on the wall. Sunlight slanted in through the floor-to-ceiling window, gilding his graying hair with a pale golden color. Outside the window, there weren’t many patients waiting in the outpatient hall; Li Min was auscultating a child having an asthma attack in examination room number three.
The phone rang urgently.
The elderly director stretched out his hand to answer; the voice on the other end was from Zhou Daping, the village branch secretary of Chalu Village, hoarse and trembling as if sothing had gripped his throat:
"Dean Li! Sothing happened! Three kiloters west of the fork in the road, a farm truck overturned into a ditch. There are seven to eight people on the truck, all injured, so look like they won’t make it! We’re on our way to you, ten minutes, at most ten minutes!"
The elderly director’s temple throbbed suddenly.
"How many people? How severe are the injuries?"
"I don’t know either, bleeding everywhere..." Zhou Daping’s voice was drowned in the background cries and screams, intermittent, "Dean Li, you must save them, they’re all from our village, all from one village..."
The call ended.
The elderly director held the phone, standing in front of the developnt plan map he hadn’t had ti to scrutinize yet. The inauguration ceremony of the new hospital had just passed less than two weeks ago, and the brand-new hundred-level laminar flow operating room hadn’t been officially used yet; the mobile CT donated by Chairman Cheng was still in the testing phase. He had dread countless tis of this hospital being of use, but never imagined it would be like this, on an afternoon like this.
He activated the hospital-wide ergency broadcast.
"All dical staff on duty, gather at the ergency hall imdiately. Repeating, all dical staff on duty, gather at the ergency hall imdiately."
Three seconds of silence, then footsteps.
Li Min rushed out of examination room number three, his right hand still holding the stethoscope he hadn’t had ti to put down. He saw Dr. Zhang jogging in the hallway, Nurse Director Wang running over from the obstetrics departnt, Sister Liu from the pharmacy grabbing the ergency box.
No one asked why, no one said "This doesn’t concern ."
The twenty-sothing people from Guandu Hospital all gathered.
The elderly director stood at the center of the ergency hall, voice aged:
"Road junction rollover, several seriously injured, arriving in ten minutes. Nurse Chief Liu, prepare ergency supplies, set up four rescue units. Dr. Zhang, you handle the triage of minor injuries. Xiao Wang, notify the operating room to prepare, all equipnt boot and self-check."
He paused, his gaze falling on Li Min.
"Dr. Li, you handle severe injury assessnt; you have more experience, stop bleeding where possible, send the rest to the county."
Li Min nodded, the stethoscope already placed back into the gown pocket.
"Is there a spare autologous blood transfusion machine in the operating room?" he asked.
The elderly director was montarily stunned; the old "operating room" at Guandu Health Center could only handle debrident and suturing, obviously lacking such equipnt. But he imdiately realized Li Min was asking about the new hospital.
"Yes!" he said, "The engineers from Chairman Cheng’s side just finished testing it last week."
"But... but... nobody knows how to use it!" the elderly director said, troubled.
"I know, it’s very simple, I can teach the nurses on-site." Li Min said calmly, his training at Sanbo Hospital was very comprehensive.
After saying this, Li Min already turned towards the ergency hall entrance.
A piercing braking sound ca from outside.
The first van delivering the injured arrived.
The door slid open, the sll of blood and cries rushing out like floodwaters.
Zhou Daping jumped out first, his expression teeming with fear Li Min had never witnessed before. This fifty-sothing village branch secretary had been a cadre in Chalu Village for twenty years, diating fights, handling mountain fires and landslides, not panicking even when floodwater cut off roads. At this mont, his hands were trembling, pants stained with dark red blood.
"Dean Li, Dean Li..." his voice forced out from his throat.
Li Min didn’t look at him, his gaze already fixed past Zhou Daping’s shoulder, landing on the injured people in the van.
The first person carried down was a young man nad Zhao Qiulin, about twenty years old, his left thigh severely twisted and deford, exposed white bone puncturing skin and pants into the air. He was still groaning, voice low, seed to have exhausted all his strength.
"Preshock stage due to hemorrhagic shock." Li Min’s speech rapid, "Open femur fracture on the left, active bleeding. Apply a tourniquet, establish dual-channel venous access, rapid infusion of 500 ml lactated Ringer’s solution, crossmatch blood, stabilize blood pressure, prepare for surgery."
Two nurses practically ran to take the person away.
The second injured person was a middle-aged woman nad Chen Dongxiu, carried by several villagers on a door panel. She didn’t groan, didn’t scream, only opened her eyes, gaze dispersed, staring at the ceiling.
Li Min’s hand pressed on her abdon, only once.
"Closed abdominal injury, high suspicion of rupture of liver and spleen, significant internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity. Shock, this one goes directly to the operating room, notify the blood bank imdiately, prepare all compatible blood, just applied a tourniquet on Zhao Qiulin, record the ti of application."
His voice unwavering, speaking and acting simultaneously, as if rely reporting the weather.
Third, fourth, fifth. Head and facial injuries, left upper arm fracture, multiple soft tissue contusions, these can wait a mont; Li Min like a precise triage instrunt, as his fingers passed, severity of injuries, priority levels, treatnt plans without the slightest hesitation.
Zhou Daping stood behind him, watching him issue orders almost without thinking, watching those gruesoly injured patients neatly triaged, dispatched, and transported. He suddenly experienced a strange illusion.
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