Chapter 293: Chapter 293

(Thanks to my good friend Heart Dance for their encouragement with a monthly pass)

Qiaoqiao wasn’t the only one curious about Liu Banxia. Everyone watched him during mealtimes; he was incredibly well-behaved! Normally, he could be quite "domineering" in the emergency department, so Peng Xiuqin keeping him in check was seen as a satisfying way for everyone to vent a bit.

He was an outgoing guy and often played tricks on the interns under him. Moreover, his habit of randomly asking questions at any time—a tradition from his mentor—truly tormented them.

Upstairs, he checked on Han again and saw he no longer needed oxygen. The pulmonary embolism had been removed, relieving the pressure and allowing his breathing to become naturally smoother.

"Sister Wang, why are there suddenly so many patients?" Liu Banxia asked curiously when he returned downstairs and saw Shi Lei and the team working in the resuscitation room.

"There was a pile-up, a four-car collision with six injured. The one we’re currently treating is the driver from the second car. The others only have minor injuries, but he lost consciousness," Wang Ying replied.

Liu Banxia nodded. Cars bring convenience but also significant danger. Good driving skills aren’t always enough to ensure safety; sometimes, you just can’t prevent others from hitting you.

"By the way, did that issue with the IV tubes I mentioned last time cause a lot of talk?" Wang Ying asked.

"It’s fine, Sister Wang. I’m used to it; it’s like being so infested with lice that you stop itching. People can say whatever they want. Besides, the quality of these IV tubes is already poor," Liu Banxia said nonchalantly.

"Don’t overthink it; there are other things involved here. Maybe it’s because I’m too much of a stickler for rules. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about it."

"If I had known, I would have reported it myself," Wang Ying said.

"Sister Wang, even if you had reported it, they would have blamed me anyway, saying I instigated it," Liu Banxia chuckled.

"Anyway, when people have it in for me, they’ll pin anything on me. Only time will tell with this matter. Besides, we don’t have any selfish motives. Boss, how’s this patient? I see he’s unconscious?"

"First, send him for a brain CT, and cervical and thoracic spine X-rays. The initial examination shows no internal abdominal bleeding. However, he has a large impact wound on his forehead, possibly from hitting the steering wheel," Shi Lei said.

"Currently, his pupils are equal in size and reactive to light. Let’s hope the coma is just due to a concussion and not a cerebral hemorrhage. Has the director mentioned to you when we’re moving to the new building?"

"No. You know how busy the director is these days. I did hear that the commissioning is in its final stages, probably about ten days or so?" Liu Banxia said.

"It might be earlier than planned. I heard the people from other departments being transferred to the emergency department have already had meetings," Shi Lei said.

Liu Banxia was taken aback. It seems the hospital administration is really eager. But thinking about it, it makes sense; the sooner it’s operational, the sooner they’ll see results.

The emergency center is currently attracting more attention than I am. I might catch the eye of a few individuals at most, but the emergency center has a societal impact.

"Teacher Liu, a patient is looking for you," Miao Rui, who was handling triage, called out at that moment.

Liu Banxia looked over. It was a young woman. She looks familiar, but I can’t quite recall where I’ve seen her.

"Dr. Liu, hello! Oh, Dr. Shi is here too!" the young woman said, running over and greeting them enthusiastically. Google seaʀᴄh 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱

Even Shi Lei was baffled. She recognizes me? I have no memory of her at all.

"Hello, you were looking for me?" Liu Banxia asked, hesitating slightly.

"Oh my gosh, Dr. Liu, you haven’t forgotten me, have you?" the young woman said, looking a bit dejected at Liu Banxia’s reaction.

Hearing the young woman’s words, everyone nearby perked up their ears. Is there something going on? It couldn’t be... right?

"I’m sorry, I really can’t seem to recall," Liu Banxia said helplessly. I genuinely have no impression of her, other than her face being vaguely familiar.

"Diverticulitis," the young woman prompted.

"Oh! I remember now! You’re Feifei, right? No wonder you know both Dr. Shi and me. You look well; your recovery seems excellent," Liu Banxia exclaimed, finally remembering.

This was the girl, the patient from whom I only earned a small fee for that freelance surgery. A very cheerful young woman; she even asked for a photo together in the operating room.

"It seems your recovery is indeed very good," Shi Lei also recalled.

"I’ll be working in Binhai City from now on, so I came to see my two lifesavers," Shen Feifei said.

"Oh, please don’t say that. It wasn’t such a great feat. Any doctor would have done the same. You don’t need to feel any burden," Liu Banxia quickly interjected.

Although I enjoy praise, as a doctor, too much of it isn’t good. If I get used to being called a "lifesaver," I might get a big head. There aren’t that many lives to save; it’s all just standard procedure.

Still, I’m quite happy. After all, receiving thanks is the best affirmation of my work.

After chatting for a bit, it turned out this Feifei was quite something. She currently worked at Binhai Television Station. Although she didn’t have a permanent position yet, just getting a foot in the door was already a huge success.

She had come this time with a task: to schedule an interview with Liu Banxia. The topic was the recent nitrous oxide incident, and she needed him to explain the long-term dangers of its use from a medical perspective.

"Alright, I should have time in the next few days. But could we possibly wait until we move into the new building?" Liu Banxia asked after a moment’s thought.

"That should be fine; we haven’t set a specific date yet anyway. Dr. Liu, let’s leave it at that for now. Oh, and let’s add each other on WeChat so I don’t have to search around for you next time," Shen Feifei said.

That wasn’t an issue. Liu Banxia immediately took out his phone and added Shen Feifei on WeChat.

"Dr. Liu, didn’t you mention last time that there’s a beautiful woman who teaches yoga? If I wanted to learn too, could I get a discount?" Shen Feifei then asked.

"I can’t say for sure about that. I can forward you her WeChat, but I don’t even know her rates myself," Liu Banxia said with a wry smile.

"That works too. Thanks, Dr. Liu! We’ll be in touch on WeChat," Shen Feifei said, waved, and hurried out.

"Boss, I think I know why they’re moving the schedule up. It’s probably for this interview, so they can also introduce our new emergency center at the same time," Liu Banxia remarked with a sigh.

Shi Lei nodded in agreement. Just then, his phone rang.

This is probably trouble, Shi Lei muttered to himself before answering the phone. "Doctor Wu, has the patient from earlier developed any issues?"

"Dr. Shi, during the CT scan, the patient’s blood oxygen dropped to 86, and he experienced dyspnea. We intubated him on site. The CT scan was just completed. While the bleeding points in his head aren’t very large, there are quite a few of them," Wu Bo reported.

"I suspect it’s a coup-contrecoup brain injury, and I estimate some smaller bleeding points might not have been detected by the scan. Do you think we should transfer him to the ICU or send him back to your ER?"

"Send him back to the ER. In this situation, even if we sent him to the ICU, there wouldn’t be much else to do. We still haven’t been able to contact his family," Shi Lei said.

"What’s wrong? Is the patient from earlier doing poorly?" Liu Banxia asked after Shi Lei hung up.

"It’s likely a coup-contrecoup brain injury. The bleeding points are too small; Wu Bo said some might not have even shown up on the scan," Shi Lei said.

Liu Banxia nodded. Although there’s still a chance for this patient to recover, the odds are extremely slim.

A coup-contrecoup injury is a brain injury caused by the brain impacting back and forth within the skull. It often results in numerous tiny bleeding points that are too small and widespread to treat.

Medically speaking, the recovery rate for such patients is around 25%. However, Liu Banxia estimated this patient’s chances were likely even lower due to the severity of his condition.

After a short wait, the patient was wheeled back in.

"Officer, has his family arrived yet?" Liu Banxia asked.

"We’ve contacted his wife. She’s currently out of town on a business trip. His parents are not in Binhai City, and it will take them at least three hours to get here," the accompanying police officer replied.

"Could you give us his wife’s phone number? The patient’s condition is likely critical, and we need to speak with her," Liu Banxia said.

BEEP BEEP BEEP... BEEP BEEP BEEP...

Before the officer could reply, the patient’s monitor started beeping insistently.

"Blood pressure 90/200, heart rate 50. I’ve given mannitol and adjusted the bed. It seems the intracranial hypertension is causing the drop in heart rate," Shi Lei stated.

"Prepare 1mg of epinephrine. Remove the ventilator and switch to manual ventilation with an Ambu bag. Inject the epinephrine; I’ll do compressions."

The interns beside Shi Lei were extremely tense; they also hadn’t expected the patient’s vital signs to deteriorate so rapidly.

Despite Shi Lei’s vigorous resuscitation efforts, the patient’s heart rate line on the monitor remained flat, showing no response.

Seeing Shi Lei still performing compressions, Liu Banxia walked over and patted his shoulder.

Shi Lei turned off the monitor, checked the patient’s pupils, respiration, and pulse again. "Time of death: 2:06 PM."

"How... so quickly?" the police officer asked in disbelief.

"If we were to open his skull now, his brain would undoubtedly be covered in countless tiny bleeding points," Liu Banxia said gravely.

"With this kind of brain injury, not even a deity could save him. The steering wheel and car seat inflicted too much damage to his brain during the collision and impact."

"Xu Yino, prepare yourself. When the patient’s family arrives, you will be the one to inform them. Everything requires experience."

Xu Yino nodded, her expression as grim as everyone else’s.

During admission, they had all assumed his coma was merely due to a concussion, as the other patients’ injuries were very light—the most serious only requiring stitches to the head.

Liu Banxia glanced at them but offered no words of comfort. These are things they need to process and accept on their own. Consolation from others is of little use.

Not all resuscitation attempts are successful. A patient might be joking with you one moment and exhibit Cushing’s reflex the next. To accept a patient’s gratitude, one must also learn to bear the pain of losing a patient.

And Lu Gang was one such patient he was on the verge of losing.