Sense Novel - Chapter 57

 Chapter 57 – Ambulance Doctor (3)

Samjeong Apartment, 9:06 a.m.

“This is 119!”

Inside a 15-pyeong apartment that seemed to only house two elderly couples.

[T/N: pyeong is a unit of measurement in Korea used for spaces equivalent to 3.3m²]

On one side of the living room floor full of dried peppers and dried persimmons lay an old man who looked to be over 70.

An old woman informed the crew who put down the first aid equipment.

“He fell down while coming out of the bathroom. He couldn’t even talk and was moaning.”

Dowook sat right next to the elderly and checked his pulse and consciousness.

“Sir, can you see this?”

Seeing that the pupils were responding normally, there seemed to be no damage to the head and neck.

“Granny, how did he fall?”

“I don’t know about that either. I came out of the bedroom when I heard a bang. Old man. How did you fall?”

“……Eugh…….”

He continued to groan.

First of all, Min Eung-sik checked at the neck to confirm the injured area, when he suddenly said.

“He fell sideways and tried to soften his fall with his left arm.”

“What?”

Min Eung-sik lightly held the old man’s left arm and put it down.

“This bone is cracked. If you have low blood pressure, arrhythmia, and your arm’s warmth, spinal damage is certain. Spinal shock, along with a twisted spine. This is a common symptom in the elderly’s injury.”

Min Eung-sik, who finished the diagnosis at a glance, was definitely a trauma expert as Seong Chang Soo said. Lee Ji-seok looked at Min Eung-sik with an admirable expression.

“As expected. It’s different with the doctor on the field.”

“I’ll secure the airways, so please get ready to transfer the patient.”

Paramedics followed Min Eung-sik’s diagnosis and immediately began first-aid treatment.

Dowook felt Min Eung-sik’s sense rushing in through his fingertips. However, receiving this sense could not help him make a better diagnosis than that professor.

He didn’t want to forcefully appeal himself as a doctor in front of the old man who was groaning and the old lady who stood not knowing what to do.

Dowook shook his hand to let go of the sense and received Han Min-gyu’s sense again. As his hand moved, Dowook went to quickly assist with the transfer.

Han Min-gyu, who was assembling a stretcher that helped hold the spine in place, spoke with his eyes on his work.

“Jiseok, if you’re done fixing the head in place, put a splint on the arm. A thin one.”

“That doctor is already doing it though?”

“Huh?”

Dowook arrived in Han Min-gyu’s sight when he lifted his head up.

Aluminum splint coated with plastic. It was bent in a U shape and added to the arm of the patient.

“Should I take over?”

“No, it looks good.”

Han Min-gyu looked a little surprised after watching the treatment done by Dowook to the end.

There were many types of emergency splints. Among them, the low-soft pad was a perfect splint for elderly patients because it could be adjusted delicately.

“Team leader, I’m done with the head.”

“Okay, get ready to move the stretcher.”

When Dowook, who was working on bandaging the patient, heard Han Min-gyu’s voice, he knelt by the leg of the patient although no one ordered him to. When paramedics approached closer to the patient’s head and legs, Han Min-gyu naturally gave the following instructions.

“Move it on three. One, two….”

The old man was settled on a special stretcher for spinal fixation with Lee Ji-seok grabbing him by the armpits and Dowook lifting his legs.

While Han Min-kyu and Lee Ji-seok wrapped the Velcro firmly, fixing the patient onto the stretcher, Dowook carefully fixed the broken arm in place with a separate triangle bandage.

Lee Ji-seok asked Dowook.

“Woah, doctor. Have you ever received emergency training?”

Dowook, who had been lost in thought for a moment, replied.

“When I worked as a public health doctor. I watched a few videos before I came here.”

“Wow. I can’t do that even after 4 years of first aid training. You have a lot of talent.”

Han Min-gyu, who finished with the Velcro, told Lee Ji-seok.

“Is that something to brag about? The two doctors are doing what you’re supposed to do”.

“I just complimented him because he was good.”

Han Min-gyu said in front of the patient who was ready to be moved by ambulance in an instant.

“Sir. Please be patient. Jiseok, raise your hand on the count of three. Carefully.”

The paramedics with stretchers went out through the front door.

It was when the patient was loaded in the back of the emergency car and even the guardian was on board. Han Min-gyu said to Min Eung-sik, who was trying to sit in the passenger seat.

“Doctor, please board in the back. As the access road from the house may be icy, I have something to report.”

“Oh, should I?”

He thought the paramedic Lee Ji-seok would board the passenger seat, but Han Min-gyu looked at Dowook.

“Doctor Park Dowook. Get in the front.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Jiseok can’t handle communicators as well as you do. Please.”

At this, Lee Ji-seok bowed his head low.

“I’m sorry, doctor. I’m a beginner.”

Min Eung-sik watched Dowook board the passenger seat, and pulled out his ringing cell phone from his pocket.

[Professor Min, I sent a reporter there. I’ve told them what to do, so they’ll cover it well on their own. Don’t worry and show off your skills]

Min Eung-sik, who put his cell phone back in his pocket, scoffed.

He had seen earlier that the emergency surgeons from Myeong Sae Hospital were surprised. Of course. What kind of courage would residents possess to show off in front of professors?

But that young doctor’s approach was different.

Because he handled the work faster than the actual crew, he gained the trust of the person in charge within just one dispatch.

Min Eung-sik, whose eyes deepened, heard Lee Ji-seok’s bright voice.

“Doctor, get in. Let’s go.”

“Hey, get on quickly Mr. doctor. It’s cold outside.”

Min Eung-sik took off his hardened expression and sat next to the patient’s family.

“You were cold because the door was open, right? I’m sorry, grandma.”

“It’s nothing.”

The transfer of the first patient.

The event was planned for the safety of the citizens in Seodaemun-gu and the rest of the firefighters, but plans with other intentions began in earnest.

Weewoo weewoo!

New construction site for studio apartments, 9:47 a.m.

“The fall patient is over here!”

Paramedics rushed to the man lying on the entrance to the underground parking lot on the slope.

Min Eung-sik made a diagnosis as soon as he saw the patient.

“I can see the left thigh deformation. On the right side, his ankle is turned outward. Sir, where do you feel the most uncomfortable?”

“Legs and shoulders…… and the chest….”

“Multiple damages. You should be taken to a hospital where severe trauma treatment is possible.”

Han Min-gyu immediately said because it was a seriously injured patient.

“Jiseok, you put the pull-on splint on the left side of the patient’s neck, and Mr. Dowook…….”

Dowook had already placed an air-pressure splint on the patient’s right ankle. Han Min-gyu watched for a while as Dowook quickly applied first-aid and hit Lee Ji-seok, who was standing blankly.

“Are you going to let the doctor do everything again?”

“No.”

The crash patient was tied to a stretcher belt and was quickly boarded on the ambulance.

Flower Day Care Center, 10:39 a.m.

Paramedics jumped through the main gate.

“This is 119!”

“Over here!”

A woman who appeared to be the daycare center’s teacher raised her hand at the entrance of class 2.

Min Eung-sik, who rushed in, found a four-year-old boy lying on the floor and approached him. However, he could not make a diagnosis immediately.

This was why Han Min-gyu hugged the child one step earlier.

The child took a prone position on Han Min-gyu’s thigh.

“Where’s Jiseok?”

“I’ll be there soon!”

Paramedic Lee Ji-seok, who came with him, also responded now, but Dowook, who had already approached, grabbed the child’s head.

“I’ll hold onto his neck so that it doesn’t get pressed down.”

“Okay. Hold on tight.”

First-aid immediately upon arrival.

Han Min-gyu hit the child’s back and scapular bones strongly at 1-second intervals.

Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!

Within just three times, a piece of toy block popped out of the blue child’s mouth.

The child began to breathe hard.

Han Min-gyu, holding the child with both hands, approached Min Eung-sik.

“Please check his status.”

Min Eung-sik, who took out the laryngoscope from the emergency bag, opened the child’s mouth and shined a light inside.

There were traces of scratches, but fortunately, the airway closure seemed to have been resolved.

“I don’t think I need to do the insertion tube. The problem is the dropped oxygen saturation, a respirator for children.….”

“Here you go.”

Min Eung-sik, who accepted the mask and put it on the child’s mouth, immediately turned to Dowook who prepared it.

Even in the emergency room, depending on the symptoms, there were times when you needed to take priority measures faster than diagnosis. This child’s airway was almost completely closed, and Han Min-gyu recognized it immediately after arrival, removing the foreign substance.

Decisions made by the skilled eyes of a paramedic.

But, how did Park Dowook accurately match that tempo and respond?

The face of the child who received oxygen turned bright. The boy’s consciousness quickly became clear, so he looked up at people with a tearful face.

After the dispatch, team 1’s ambulance was parked in the garage.

Two doctors approached Min Eung-sik, who opened the back door and got off.

“Thank you for your hard work, senior. You’ve been on the move 8 times in a row. We’ll proceed for the rest of the time.”

At the words of Lim Jae-baek, Min Eung-sik glanced at the passenger seat and pointed to the corner of the garage.

“Follow me. With Professor Choi”.”

The three doctors from Hansung Hospital gathered in one place. Min Eung-sik said with a serious look.

“You know what we were going to do in the afternoon. We need to speed up the plan.”

“Free medical treatment for residents?”

“Yes. If it continues like this…….”

Min Eung-sik, whose eyes moved toward Dowook who got off from the passenger seat, paused for a while. It was not until Dowook disappeared into the waiting room that he opened his mouth again.

“At this rate, the image of Hansung Hospital will not be that great. You two ask for a change of group and then implement the plan right away. There’s a reporter coming, so let’s move together. If you raise the fire department’s image, the officials will definitely like it.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll have to keep sticking to Group A. We have to keep him in check.”

“Who? You don’t mean the doctor you were dispatched earlier with?”

The two doctors laughed at Min Eung-sik, who nodded seriously.

“No way. How can you get scared of a resident and keep him in check? We’ve contacted patients to come here. Doing it as planned at a quiet time…….”

– Emergency dispatch. Occurrence of vomiting patients due to drinking. 22 Moraenae-ro 13-gil, Namgajwa-dong. The second floor of the house.

The command amplifier on the ceiling rang urgently.

Min Eung-sik pointed to an ambulance when the lightning-like Dowook from the waiting room boarded the passenger seat.

“You guys go and check it out yourself whether I’m making it up.”

Han Min-gyu stood by the driver’s seat and shouted.

-Group A! Let’s go!

Lee Ji-seok opened the back door.

“Who’s going this time?”

“Me.”

“I’ll go, too.”

Lim Jae-baek and Choi Young-je got into the ambulance.

2nd floor of Namgajwa House, 11:43 a.m.

“This is 119!”

The patient who seemed to be in his late 40s continued to vomit in the bathroom on the second floor of the villa. His companions, who were dining with him, were anxiously watching.

-Are you okay?

-Oh, I’m dizzy

Placing down the stretcher, Dowook turned to the living room table while watching Lim Jae-baek pat the patient’s back.

Scattered liquor bottles, pork belly that was still sizzling with the heat of the grill. It was almost lunchtime, so he was drooling.

-When did the symptoms start?

-It’s been about 30 minutes since we were in the middle of eating.….

-How much did he drink?

-He didn’t drink a lot. About three glasses of soju.

Lim Jaebaek, who conducted the interview.

Even in Dowook’s eyes, it was not a heavy drinking atmosphere. To say that it was due to food poisoning caused by spoiled food, the others seemed to be fine.

“What do you think?”

When Han Min-gyu asked, Lim Jae-baek, who was in the bathroom, stuck his head out.

“He has a low blood pressure and a slow pulse, so it’s likely to be burnout. If it’s a digestive tract disease, you’ll need a professional checkup. Let’s hurry up and move him to the hospital.”

“It’s definitely more comfortable to receive medical guidance from the center on the spot. Thank you.”

Compliment from the team leader. Lim Jae-baek, who turned his head toward his fellow doctor Choi Young-je, shrugged. Choi Young-je also smiled at the gesture as if to ask what was difficult.

Han Min-gyu immediately gave instructions.

“We’ll proceed with the transfer. Sir, can you get up?”

“Oh. I don’t have strength all over my body.”

“Jiseok, help him.”

Han Min-gyu told the others in the room.

“The guardian who will come with us, please get in the ambulance.”

“Can we both ride? I’m friend Woo Yongsik, and he’s Kang Jinman.”

“Yes, but it’s going to be a little cramped because there’s a lot of people.”

The patient who came down the stairs on a stretcher was placed into the ambulance.

Choi Young-je blocked Dowook as he tried to get in the passenger seat as always.

“Can I ride there?”

“Uh…”

Dowook was going to say it didn’t matter, but Lee Ji-seok came to the side and answered instead.

“Because of the walkie-talkie operation, Dr. Dowook has been sitting there.”

“Oh. Radio. 99 is first aid. 192 is fire. 46 is fine. Right?”

Lee Ji-seok’s jaw dropped when Choi Young-je, who knew the abbreviation for firefighting wireless communication, spoke.

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve been teaching emergency medicine for three years. It would be weird if I didn’t know what my students were talking about.”

“Lecture? Wow, you were an amazing person.”

Choi Young-je, who showed his skills, sent a look to Dowook asking if he was still going to stop him. So Dowook pointed to the passenger seat and said.

“Get in, doctor. I’ll go to the back.”

Dowok climbed up the back door and saw Lim Jae-baek hanging an intravenous line.

“Is there anything I can help with…….”

“It’s okay. You must have had a hard time with the continuous dispatch. Please sit comfortably inside on the way back.”

He seemed to be considerate, but somehow the atmosphere was cold, so Dowook tilted his head.

“Let’s go! Jiseok, get in front of me. It’s narrow because there are two guardians behind.”

Following Han Min-gyu’s words, the ambulance departed.

Vroom.

While moving along the boulevard, the guardian on board opened his mouth.

“Doctor, is Taejin going to be ok?”

“If he gets proper treatment, he’ll feel better.”

“If it’s soju, he can drink two bottles easily, but he fell down with only three glasses. I thought his liver was okay at the general checkup?”

Dowook, listening to the conversation with one ear paused with a feeling of numbness in his neck muscles. Now, he had been continuously using Han Min-gyu’s sense.

As early as at the daycare center, where they were dispatched in the morning, the sense warned him like this.

‘Is there an emergency?’

Dowook lowered his gaze toward the patient. The appearance of rapidly stabilizing when the infusion was injected. But unfortunately that patient was not.

As soon as he turned his head to the side and looked at the patient’s two acquaintances, the image of the table he saw at the time of the dispatch crossed his head.

Dowook asked immediately.

“There was a plastic bottle with no patterns on the table. Was that alcohol, too?

“That? It was alcohol. A medicinal wine that is good for health.”

“Medicinal wine?”

“It’s something called Manbyeongcho that gives energy even a week after drinking.”

At the unpleasant feeling he got when he heard the answer, Dowook took the blood pressure meter out of the bag.

“Dr. Lim. We need to check their vital signs.”

“The guardians? No, why?”

He couldn’t just say “because of a feeling” at Lim Jae-baek’s strange gaze.

It was while he was thinking.

Kang Jin-man, an acquaintance of the patient sitting at the end, trembled.

“Yo, Yongsik. I…….”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Suddenly, I feel cold and dizzy…… Euggghh.”