Chapter 60 – Young Patient with No Guardian (2)

“Move quickly! There is no time! The golden hour has already passed!”

Kim Ji-hyuk shouted as he pushed the gurney into the operating room.

“Get the lines in! Is the blood ready?”

In the moment of life or death, Kim Ji-hyuk raised his voice and shouted.

“Dr. Ji-hyuk, we secured the blood!”

Shin Jeong-eun, who was waiting in the operating room, and the surgical team had prepared everything.

“Thank you, Dr. Jeong-eun! First, hang physiological saline and make it a full drip!”

“Got it.”

As they hung physiological saline according to Kim Ji-hyuk’s instructions, the medical staff hurriedly prepared for the surgery.

Beep, beep, beep, beep—

Beep, beep, beep, beep—

The patient was still unconscious.

Since he was young, had lost a large amount of blood, and was defenseless against the sudden accident, the patient’s condition was the worst.

Furthermore, he had missed initial treatment and arrived late at the hospital. There was a chance to save him only if all surgical procedures were shortened as much as possible.

“He seems to have no consciousness at all. What should we do, Ji-hyuk?”

Kim Yun-seok, who arrived in the operating room a bit late, asked.

“It would be stranger if he had consciousness. There is no time… You there! What are you doing right now? How can you step on the line like that?”

Kim Ji-hyuk shouted at the medical staff who was stepping on the fluid line.

“Oh! I-I am sorry, Doctor!”

“You should be sorry to the patient, not me! Now is not the time for practice. Keep in mind that a mistake is directly connected to the patient’s life. Wake up!”

Kim Ji-hyuk scolded the resident harshly.

“I… I understand.”

A moment later.

“We are very short on blood! Please hang more!”

Despite continuous blood transfusion, the patient’s vital signs did not improve easily.

“Yes!”

“Everyone! Please hold on a little more! We must first revive the patient’s pulse to operate. Please hold on a little more! Nurse Jang, please hang additional blood bags, and Dr. Yoon Jin-han! Dr. Yoon, go out and see if you can secure more blood! We must secure at least five more bags by any means!”

Shin Jeong-eun secured as much blood as possible, but considering the amount of bleeding, the secured blood was desperately insufficient.

More blood was needed.

“But since we brought all the blood currently in the hospital…”

“Contact Paik Hospital!”

“Pardon?? Paik Hospital?”

“Yes. If you contact them, there might be a chance.”

“A-Alright.”

Before the National Blood Center was established in June 1954, a surgeon at Paik Hospital, a private hospital, was opening a blood bank with the help of the US Army’s 211th Evacuation Hospital.

“Hurry!”

“Yes, yes! Understood.”

Beep, beep, beep, beep—

The patient was still unconscious, and his blood pressure did not rise easily. Since his injuries were so severe, the success of the surgery could not be guaranteed.

“Ji-hyuk, what should we do?”

From Yun-seok’s position, it was a situation difficult to handle.

“First, get an A-line and catch the pulse!”

‘Please! Let the pulse return at least! Kid! Just a little, please hold on just a little more!’

Kim Ji-hyuk clenched his back teeth as if distressed.

“A-Alright!”

“Yun-seok! You must catch the pulse by any means. If even that fails, surgery or anything is of no use!”

“Yes! I am also doing my best!”

‘Darn it! If only we could take a CT scan, we could at least estimate. At any rate, the abdominal cavity must be filled with blood right now. The patient’s abdomen is just like a bomb that could explode at any moment!’

The patient’s condition was the worst, to the extent that it was difficult to handle with current medical tools.

“Be alert! There won’t be a single healthy spot. The probability is high that the liver is also almost entirely torn apart!”

“Sigh, probably. How much pain must the child have felt. The bones of his entire body must be broken joint by joint.”

“Hemostasis! Hemostasis is the urgent priority. Let’s catch the pulse by any means and stop the bleeding!”

“Yes!”

A moment later.

Kim Yun-seok and Kim Ji-hyuk tried to stop the bleeding desperately.

Beep, beep, beep, beep—

Finally, the patient’s pulse began to revive, and the bleeding also began to be caught little by little.

“What should we do now, Ji-hyuk?”

“We have no choice but to open him up, block the blood leak, and sew him up! Senior Jeong-eun! You know what I mean, right?”

It seemed they could start the main surgery now.

“I will try. But since he has spilled too much blood, I cannot be 100% sure. I can’t even estimate how much drug to use.”

Shin Jeong-eun, who was starting anesthesia, looked troubled.

“It cannot be helped! If we don’t perform surgery, we cannot promise the next moment. Please!”

“A-Alright. I will do my best. I have treated many wounded soldiers, but a patient in this bad of a condition is rare.”

Sigh—

Shin Jeong-eun spoke with a stiff face.

As Shin Jeong-eun said, anesthesia was also by no means easy.

The pulse had returned to some extent, but he was still unconscious, had lost a large amount of blood, and vital signs were low. It was a situation that would not be easy even if modern equipment and drugs were provided.

Furthermore, as of 1954, anesthetic drugs and anesthesia tools were poor, so successful general anesthesia could not be guaranteed.

Also, even if general anesthesia succeeded and they managed to perform the surgery successfully, they could not rule out the worst-case scenario where he could not wake up from the anesthesia.

However, Shin Jeong-eun had to perform anesthesia, and she succeeded in doing so with difficulty.

“All done!”

Before long, Shin Jeong-eun’s cap was soaked with sweat.

“Senior! May we start the surgery now?”

Kim Ji-hyuk and Kim Yun-seok stood in front of the operating table and asked.

“I did my best for now. General anesthesia! However, keep in mind that cardiac arrest may occur during the surgery! If the bleeding continues, I cannot guarantee either.”

“Yes. We will also do our best!”

“Nurse! Scalpel, please!”

With Kim Ji-hyuk as the operating surgeon and Kim Yun-seok assisting beside him, the main surgery began.

“Yes, Doctor!”

“Yun-seok! You must stay alert. Blood will pour out.”

Phew—

As if a bit tense, Kim Ji-hyuk caught his breath once, and then began to make an incision in the abdomen with the scalpel.

Gush, gush—

As everyone expected, red blood poured out.

Ah—

Yun-seok let out a short scream.

‘Darn it, if only we had a Bovie, it would be much easier…’

“Calm down. This much was expected, wasn’t it? Take the gauze and block it!”

A surgery that would have been much easier if they had a Bovie, which was an electrocautery device. However, unfortunately, they could not use a Bovie right now.

A bitter struggle.

Red blood flowing out wherever the scalpel touched.

Yun-seok, who was beside him, clamped blood vessels with forceps and blocked the flowing blood with gauze.

“Yun-seok, it seems this part is ruptured.”

Finally, Kim Ji-hyuk seemed to have found the ruptured blood vessel.

“Here!”

“The liver! Laceration is no joke! Since the liver is torn to this extent, the blood is pouring out like this!”

Once an organ was damaged and bleeding continued, the heart beat faster to make up for the lacking blood, and the blood pressure gradually dropped. If that happened, first the kidney function stopped, followed by the liver, heart, and brain showing failure in turn.

If they could not mend the ruptured liver quickly now, it was a critical moment where the patient would die of multiple organ failure.

Gush, gush—

A situation where they could not delay even a bit.

As the scalpel went a bit deeper, blood poured out from the patient’s abdomen.

“Yun-seok! Hang all the remaining blood, and irrigate sufficiently! Quickly!”

Just like the pouring blood, the surgeon Kim Ji-hyuk’s heart was also growing urgent.

“A-Alright! But what should we do? There is not much blood left now!”

“Phew, first pour in whatever is there! After that, we can only hope Dr. Yoon secures blood!”

The National Medical Center had the best facilities and manpower in South Korea.

However, the reality was not so. Because the facilities and environment were inferior to even a neighborhood surgical clinic by 2024 standards.

“Got it! Nurse! Irrigation!”

Kim Yun-seok began to carry saline in buckets along with the nurses.

“Hurry! Irrigation! It seems more needs to go in! Give it with lukewarm water!”

“Got it!”

“More! Blood pressure is dropping! More irrigation! More!”

Urgent situation!

Before long, a raspy sound burst from Kim Ji-hyuk’s hoarse throat.

“More! More!”

The nurse and Yun-seok continuously brought saline in buckets, and Kim Ji-hyuk was pouring saline into the patient’s stomach with a ladle.

“Found it!”

“Really?”

Kim Ji-hyuk, who barely secured his vision through abdominal washing, finally found the ruptured blood vessel.

“Ji-hyuk, what about the liver? It seems too torn.”

“Is there any other way? We must suture and connect it no matter what.”

If it were before his possession, liver transplantation could be considered, but right now, it was a distant dream; liver transplantation was something they couldn’t even think of.

There was no room to think of anything else other than suturing and gathering the fragmented liver.

“The patient’s vitals are too bad! Will it be possible?”

“What if it isn’t? Are you going to give up on the patient? Senior! How are the vitals now?”

Kim Ji-hyuk hurriedly turned his gaze toward Shin Jeong-eun.

“He can hold out for now. But it is not a situation to be relieved!”

“How much longer do you think he can hold out?”

“Not long! One or two hours at most!”

Shin Jeong-eun spoke with an anxious voice.

“…”

If only the liver were the problem, it was a situation they could manage somehow.

However, the situation was not so. Because if they barely blocked a ruptured blood vessel, another blood vessel ruptured, and bleeding was occurring simultaneously.

A reality that even the great Kim Ji-hyuk could not help.

Now the time to make a decision was approaching.

“Yun-seok, what about the blood?”

“Still no contact! It seems he failed, what should we do?”

‘If only we could have secured a bit more blood! If only we could have taken a CT scan beforehand! If only we had slightly more modern surgical equipment! No, before that, if only the patient could have been transported to the hospital a bit earlier!’

All sorts of thoughts crossed Kim Ji-hyuk’s mind.

To such a Kim Ji-hyuk, a thunderbolt of news arrived.

“Doctor, they say there is no blood!”

It seemed contact had come from Dr. Yoon, who had gone to Paik Hospital to get blood. It was the moment when even the last hope was shattered.

“Ji-hyuk, wh-what should we do now?”

“…”

“Ji-hyuk, I think you have to make a decision now. Let’s just gather the torn liver pieces and close him up! We must let him meet his family one last time!”

Kim Yun-seok urged Ji-hyuk to make a decision out of distress.

‘Must we really let the patient go like this…’

Kim Ji-hyuk had a hollow expression.

“Kim Ji-hyuk! Decide quickly! At this rate…”

“Yes. Let’s close him up. If this is the only way…”

Kim Ji-hyuk blamed himself endlessly for being able to do nothing as a doctor.

“Understood.”

Just as Kim Ji-hyuk was about to give up on everything.

It was at that very moment.

Bang—

A nurse hurriedly opened the operating room door and shouted.

“The patient’s parents are outside!”

“Pardon? The patient’s parents have arrived?!”

At the nurse’s words, the gaze of all the medical staff in the operating room turned toward the door.

“Yes, yes. It seems they were finally contacted. They are waiting outside the operating room right now!”

“Yun-seok!”

“Yes, Ji-hyuk!”

The eyes of the two lit up as they met each other’s gaze simultaneously. A thread of hope seemed to appear.