Chapter 114: Emergency Transfer
The injured were hurriedly loaded into the ambulance. Zhang Wenhao immediately jumped aboard, with Chen Lili following closely behind. Just as Zhang Wenhao was about to close the door, the bloodied-faced girl lunged forward, grabbing the door frame with both arms and climbing in before he could shut it.
Liu Hengshan, who had witnessed the entire ordeal from the sidelines, was overwhelmed with emotion. He desperately wanted to know if the woman could be saved tonight. Without regard for his own vehicle, he sprinted in a few strides to the ambulance, flung open the front passenger door, and climbed in.
The driver was startled, starting the engine and scolding sharply, “This is an ambulance, not a playground! Get out right now!”
Liu Hengshan blurted out, “I’m a doctor too. If I don’t see the final outcome tonight, I won’t rest in peace!”
Li Changyun spoke up, “Old Chen, just drive your car. Dr. Liu is a colleague.”
Only then did the driver nod, started the vehicle. As they glanced ahead, everyone was shocked by the scene before them.
The accident had occurred right at the highway ramp entrance. Two wrecked vehicles blocked the way. The rescue team had been slow to arrive, and now, before they could clear the wrecks, four or five cars were already jammed up behind them.
The rescue vehicle was large and longer than most vehicles, making it impossible to maneuver through the narrow gap between the two wrecks. It was stuck, forced to handle the first immobilized vehicle. With it blocking the way, the cars behind couldn't pass either. Moreover, since the highway entrance was temporarily closed due to the accident, several cars were waiting near the toll gate to enter.
The driver rolled down the window and called out loudly to staff on the accident response vehicle, “What's the situation outside? It looks like many cars are jammed at the entrance.”
“Yeah,” one of the staff glanced at him and said, “Outside the entrance, it’s almost completely gridlocked. It’s doubtful you’ll get out anytime soon.”
Zhang Wenhao grew anxious. The highway lanes were closed one-way. The ambulance entered via the entrance and would have to exit the same way. But now the outside was blocked solid. It was impossible to cross to the opposite side and exit there. They were at an impasse.
The driver asked, “We have a critical patient onboard. Can you notify the entrance staff to clear some space for us?”
The staff sighed helplessly, “At this hour, a lot of construction vehicles are using this entrance to get on the highway. Right now, most of the vehicles outside belong to the local construction sites—six or seven large cement mixer trucks alone. Those trucks can only enter here; they can’t go downtown, and it’s impossible for them to detour to another entrance.”
He added, “Clearing the jam isn’t impossible, but with so many large vehicles, even if they clear it, it’ll take at least ten to twenty minutes.”
The driver was at a loss and asked, “What should we do now?”
Zhang Wenhao knew the patient couldn’t hold out much longer. Even with smooth traffic, it would take over ten minutes to reach the hospital. If stuck for another ten or more minutes, half an hour would pass—too late. He asked, “If we keep going forward, where’s the next exit?”
The driver answered, “This highway curves around half of Jiang City, heading southeast. The next exit is on the outskirts of Jiang New District.”
Zhang Wenhao frowned, thinking. The best hospital in the city, First People's Hospital, was located in Jiang New District. If they could get the patient there, the emergency care might be better equipped. He asked, “How far is that exit? And how far from the exit to the hospital?”
“About ten kilometers,” the driver said. “If we drive fast, it’ll take less than ten minutes to get off the highway. Once off, there’s a direct road to the city center. At this hour, the traffic should be smooth. If we hurry, it’ll take about twenty minutes tops.”
Zhang Wenhao nodded and said without hesitation, “Go! Drive as fast as you can to First People’s Hospital!”
“Got it.” The driver, aware that lives were at stake, didn’t hesitate and pressed the accelerator. The vehicle abandoned the original route and sped ahead along the highway toward Jiang New District.
Zhang Wenhao immediately said to Li Changyun, “Li, call First People’s Hospital and get them ready.”
Li Changyun responded, “Wenhao, transferring the patient at this time might complicate things. If we bring a critical patient there, the doctors at First People’s Hospital might refuse to admit her. If they accept her and she dies, the death rate would be blamed on them. If we inform them in advance, they’ll likely come up with excuses to refuse. If we bring her there and they pull the emergency room doctors away, we’ll be stuck.”
Zhang Wenhao was surprised, “Would they really just stand by and let her die?”
Li Changyun sighed helplessly, “It’s an unspoken rule. The 120 emergency center assigns hospitals based on location; hospitals can’t avoid their responsibilities. But critical patients belong to certain hospitals. Taking a critical patient to another hospital is like dumping a mess on someone else’s doorstep. You think they’ll just accept that easily?”
Nearby, the silent girl suddenly said, “I’ll make the call.”
She pulled out her phone from her pocket, unlocked it, and sighed in relief that it was still working. Then, suppressing her sobs, she dialed a number and said, “Dad, Mom and I were in a car accident.”
When she mentioned her mother, the girl broke down in tears, “Dad, please think of something quickly. The doctors are trying to send Mom to Jiang City First People’s Hospital, but these doctors aren’t from there. They’re afraid the hospital won’t cooperate.”
“Okay,” the girl nodded repeatedly through tears, “Dad, please come quickly.”
After hanging up, she wiped away her tears and told Zhang Wenhao, “My dad said he’ll make arrangements. You just take my mother there as fast as possible.”
Zhang Wenhao nodded. The driver had already pushed the speed to 140 kilometers per hour, disregarding the speed limit, racing ahead.
Fortunately, the ride was smooth. Zhang Wenhao kept a close eye on the woman’s condition, and the slight vibration of the vehicle hadn’t worsened her injuries.
After just over seven minutes, they exited the highway at Jiang New District. Zhang Wenhao administered small doses of adrenaline into the woman’s heart twice more to keep it beating. About one-sixth to one-fifth of the adrenaline remained in the syringe for emergencies.
The ambulance sped down the road to Jiang New District, arriving at First People’s Hospital emergency entrance within only fifteen minutes.
As soon as the ambulance stopped by the emergency room doors, Zhang Wenhao was astonished to see seven or eight doctors and four or five nurses already waiting. The moment the vehicle settled, the door was pulled open from outside.
Two young doctors swiftly lifted the stretcher out; a gurney was ready outside. The woman was placed on it, and several doctors pushed her straight into the operating room.
The girl chased after them but was stopped by a nurse at the operating room door. Zhang Wenhao and Li Changyun followed. At the door, the girl turned, grasping Zhang Wenhao’s arms like a lifeline, eyes full of urgency.
“Doctor, will my mother be okay?”
“If there are complications during the rescue, her life shouldn’t be in great danger,” Zhang Wenhao replied honestly. “But I don’t know the extent of her skull injury. We’ll have to wait for the doctors to diagnose with a CT scan.”
The girl suddenly collapsed into Zhang Wenhao’s arms, quietly sobbing but trying to suppress the sound.
At that moment, the operating room door suddenly opened. A doctor poked his head out, looked around, and spotted Zhang Wenhao and Li Changyun in their white coats.
He shouted angrily, “Which hospital are you from? Do you have any medical knowledge? Any basic ethics? Who allowed you to inject adrenaline into the patient?! You’re recklessly endangering lives! If anything happens to her, can you take responsibility?!”
He continued scolding, “And what about the silver needles in her chest? What are you trying to do, combining Chinese and Western medicine in an emergency?!”
Before Zhang Wenhao could respond in anger, Li Changyun snapped, pointing at the doctor’s nose, “Look at your own miserable character before accusing others of lacking medical knowledge or ethics. Who the hell do you think you are? That woman has congenital heart disease. Without adrenaline, she wouldn’t have made it this far. And the silver needles? You’re too stupid to figure it out. Let me tell you, those needles were to sever the nerve connections between her right lung and body! Her right lung was pierced by a rib. That’s the only way to prevent the injured lung from worsening her condition!”
Zhang Wenhao added, “Make sure to remove the silver needles to prevent necrosis of the right lung.”
Liu Hengshan approached with a grave expression, “Sir, watch your language. When the patient was on the scene, I’d say her chance of surviving ten minutes was almost zero. Thanks to these two doctors, especially the younger one’s emergency care, it’s a miracle she’s still alive! What you’re doubting is the skill of a top emergency doctor!”
The other doctor sneered, “What a joke! You must watch too many sci-fi movies!” He glared fiercely at Li Changyun and threatened, “Keep acting arrogant. If the patient dies, you’ll be the one going to jail, quack!”
He then turned and retreated into the operating room, slamming the door shut.
Li Changyun was too angry to speak. Zhang Wenhao saw his fury and tried to calm him, “Li, there are too many narrow-minded people. No need to stoop to their level.”
Li Changyun huffed, “You don’t know. First People’s Hospital staff—from doctors to nurses—are extremely arrogant. In their eyes, they’re the top dogs in Jiang City and even in South Jiang Province. They look down on other hospitals’ doctors. I’ve had enough of their attitude. And now this guy dares to accuse you? Who does he think he is?! An emergency doctor who steps out to ask questions during surgery is just a glorified surgical assistant! What a joke!”
Meanwhile, inside the operating room, the doctor who had just come in asked the lead surgeon, “Xiaoniu, did you ask why they injected adrenaline into the patient?”
Xiaoniu sneered, put on his mask, and said, “They said the patient has congenital heart disease and the adrenaline was to prevent cardiac failure. What a joke.”
The lead surgeon frowned, “The Health Department’s call did mention the patient’s congenital heart disease. Prepare the cardiac stimulants and switch to glucose solution. The anesthetist will add half the usual dose of anesthetic to the solution. The patient’s blood type is A. Start the transfusion.”
Xiaoniu was a bit surprised but nodded, prepared the cardiac stimulants, and started the A-type plasma transfusion.
The lead surgeon picked up scissors, ready to cut open the woman’s clothes. He planned to remove the silver needles first and asked, “Hey, Xiaoniu, did you find out why they inserted needles into the right chest cavity and abdomen?”
Xiaoniu hurriedly replied, “They gave some wild explanation. Said her right lung was pierced by a rib, and the silver needles were to sever the injured lung’s connection to the body. What a joke! I don’t even know which hospital they’re from. I was too rushed to check the ambulance’s markings.”
The tense operating room erupted in scornful laughter. The deputy chief surgeon joked, “If that were really true, they’d be more miraculous than Hua Tuo himself.”
The lead surgeon remained calm, “Regardless, their method of inserting tubes to drain and relieve pneumothorax was timely and composed. There’s some merit.”
This lead surgeon was the province’s top thoracic surgeon, ranked among the nation’s top five, a giant in South Jiang’s medical field. Hearing such an absurd story, he didn’t laugh out loud but instead said calmly, “Remove the silver needles and prepare for thoracotomy.”
The silver needles were carefully removed one by one. After disinfecting the right chest cavity, the lead surgeon calmly made an incision with the scalpel.
The condition inside shocked everyone. They knew the hospital had assembled them quickly for this high-profile patient’s emergency care, but no one expected the injuries to be so severe. Multiple ribs on the right side were fractured; one rib had actually pierced her right lung. There was also significant internal bleeding, though fortunately the aorta was not damaged.
“Director, the right lung appears necrotic,” the assistant blurted, “It’s not responding at all. The injury is too severe. Should we remove it?”
The lead surgeon was troubled. The Health Department had ordered them to save the patient at all costs. She could likely survive, but if they removed a lung now, who knew whether the patient or family would harbor resentment?
The lung was clearly lifeless, beyond recovery. If left, it would gradually rot.
“Stop the bleeding first,” the lead surgeon said after a moment’s hesitation. “Even if the lung is necrotic, it won’t worsen the patient’s condition within an hour. We’ll stabilize the hemorrhage and repair the wound first, then consider lobectomy.”
Everyone understood the order of priorities. Necrotic lungs don’t rot instantly; there’s a process. Surgery can wait on that.
The lead surgeon coordinated with the team to clear the abdominal wound and assess the blood vessels. They found a ruptured vein at the base of the right lung.
“Prepare for venous suturing,” he ordered.
As the assistant handed over the suturing tools, suddenly they noticed the right lung showing signs of revival.
“Director, look at her lung!” the assistant exclaimed.
The lead surgeon looked and was astonished. The previously dead-looking lung was regaining color!
“Starting autonomous breathing!” the doctor’s eyes widened in shock. “Look at the lung wound!”
Everyone looked and saw fresh red blood flowing from the wound, the lung beginning to function again. Oxygenated blood was being pushed out under tension at the injury site.
“Quick, prepare to remove the fractured ribs first!”
No one knew why the right lung, once lifeless, was regaining vitality. Though injured and weak, it was alive again. This miraculous phenomenon made everyone recall Xiaoniu’s earlier sarcastic remark.
Could it be that the two emergency doctors from those small hospitals had, through acupuncture, blocked the lung’s nerve system?
It seemed the only explanation. When the chest was first opened and the silver needles removed, the lung gradually revived. Most likely, the needles had initially severed the lung’s nerve connections, and after about ten minutes, the nerve signals returned, allowing autonomous breathing to resume.
The entire operating room was dumbfounded. They had dismissed acupuncture as impractical, yet here was a profound, almost supernatural application.
Stunned didn’t begin to describe their feelings. Yet the lead surgeon sharpened his focus. He knew the opposing team had already set him up for a victory; he just needed to seize it. Now was no time for mistakes.