System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

”Dr. Lu, there’s a new patient in the adjacent debridement room. Once you’re done here, head over!”

Nurse Du Yali had just run to the door of Debridement Room 1 to call Lu Cheng, only to find he was already there bandaging a patient.

She quickly changed her words, ”You’re almost done here?”

”Yeah, the wound is quite simple. The patient next door isn’t bleeding much, right?” Lu Cheng continued bandaging without turning his head.

Du Yali shook her head, ”Not much. Dr. Lin from the surgical clinic said it could be handled in the debridement room.”

”It just rained outside, and it iced over. We’ve got quite a few patients who slipped and fell off their bikes,” Du Yali explained.

Lu Cheng clarified, ”As long as the bleeding isn’t much, it’s fine. I’ll finish writing the procedure notes and post-op orders here, then head over. Have the other patient wait a bit.”

After Du Yali left, the delivery guy Lu Cheng had bandaged up said, ”The weather outside is crazy today. It was fine earlier today.”

Lu Cheng replied, ”I saw the sharp drop in temperature in the weather forecast this afternoon. It’s still alright now, but if it starts snowing, there’ll be even more fracture and trauma cases.”

”Alright, buddy, you’re good to go. Your wound is pretty deep, so get a tetanus shot once you’re outside, and then hook up to an antibiotic drip. For the rest, just get your shots locally. You’ll make it in time for the New Year.”

”Happy New Year to you,” he added.

After Lu Cheng applied the sterile dressing, he started cleaning the debridement table, dumping the cotton balls and blood-soaked gauze from the kidney dish into the yellow waste bin.

”I planned to make extra runs before the New Year, as the orders’ rate is higher. Lost out today.”

”Had I known, I wouldn’t have run the delivery,” the delivery guy sighed and added, ”Well, it’s a good thing, means I can head home early. After all, it is New Year’s.”

”Yes, New Year is almost here.” After Lu Cheng packed the instruments from the debridement kit into a sterile field and placed it into the disinfection bin, he removed his gloves.

While writing the procedural notes, he glanced at the clock on the wall, ”It’s already past midnight, it’s the 29th of the twelfth lunar month.”

”By this time tonight, our family will be celebrating New Year.”

The delivery guy asked, ”So you can head home after your shift?”

”Hang on a second, buddy. Let me finish this and help you get dressed,” Lu Cheng instructed before continuing, ”No, I have a morning ward shift after the night shift. And tomorrow’s another evening shift; I can’t head home until the morning on New Year’s Day.”

The delivery guy paused, ”What? That sucks. Isn’t there any rest time in these 24 hours?”

”That’s how the shifts are. Either it’s me or someone else who’s unlucky. I got the New Year’s shift, but it’s not like I won’t have time off on other occasions.”

”That’s how it goes in the emergency department,” Lu Cheng said. Though he wasn’t slow in writing, there’s no rushing serious documentation.

After four or five minutes, Lu Cheng finished all the documentation, handed the medical record to the delivery guy, and helped him put on the trimmed-sleeve sweater, ”It’s going to be cold outside like this. You can’t bike. Better call someone to pick you up or catch a cab home.”

”Once you leave here, head to see Dr. Lin in the surgical clinic for an IV and tetanus shot, then find the duty nurse at the nurse’s station for the shots. Next time, you can go to the local community hospital!”

”Alright, thank you, Dr. Lu,” the delivery guy said as he thanked him while leaving.

His left forearm was injured, and since the delivery outfit is made of tight-fitting autumn wear and sweaters, the sleeve was cut off. But lucky for him, he had a loosely fitted down jacket outside, so it wasn’t noticeable from the outside.

Lu Cheng quickly drank a cup of water, discarded the disposable cup, changed his mask, and headed to the adjacent debridement room to start the seventh debridement case of his night shift.

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At 5:23 am, Lu Cheng and his assistant from the emergency rescue room, Du Yali, finally had a moment of peace.

After personally seeing the patient to the door of the emergency clinic, Du Yali returned, her not-so-tall stature with her arms wrapped around her left arm, resembling a cute little potato.

Seeing this, Lu Cheng laughed, ”A bit tired, aren’t you?”

Du Yali nodded, ”Very tired, Dr. Lu, are you also tired?”

Lu Cheng sat down, picked up another cup of hot water, and leaned back against the wall, ”Sudden weather changes lead to more trauma patients.”

”But it’s alright, there were no severe trauma cases; otherwise, the rescue would have been much more exhausting.”

”Debridement tasks are physically demanding but not mentally taxing.”

Du Yali found a round steel stool and sat against the debridement room wall, still shrugging her shoulders, ”You surgeons do labor-intensive work. I felt like I didn’t do much, but my arms are so sore.”

Lu Cheng commented, ”Today’s patients weren’t heavy. When a 200-pound person breaks a bone, sanitizing means lifting an entire leg and holding it until the surgery ends.”

Du Yali clicked her tongue, ”A 200-pound person, isn’t one leg over 100 pounds?”

”No, a single limb is typically one-fifth to one-sixth of body weight, around 40 to 50 pounds. For a 300-pound person, that’s just 60 to 70 pounds.”

Suddenly recalling the debridement kits were out, Lu Cheng called out, ”Du Yali, quickly inform your rescue room’s duty nurse there’s no debridement kit left!”

Du Yali rolled her eyes, ”Already told them, they must have brought them back by now.”

”Dr. Lu, there’s surely no more patients coming in.”