Famous Among Top Surgeons in the 90s-Chapter 1983: Only the Child Can Be Saved

After the pregnant woman’s breathing and heartbeat stop, the fetus can survive for about thirty minutes. However, waiting thirty minutes to rescue the fetus is too late because the fetal brain cells, due to their poor tolerance for ischemia and hypoxia, will suffer irreversible brain damage four to five minutes after the mother’s death. The extracted fetus may directly enter brain death.

Given this situation, if the pregnant woman’s breathing and heartbeat stop, and after four minutes of continuous CPR the mother does not regain spontaneous circulation, doctors must consider performing a Cesarean Section immediately to extract the fetus. This is especially true for this woman, who is already more than thirty weeks pregnant. Performing a Cesarean Section, and even a uterine removal if necessary, is very beneficial in saving both the mother and the fetus.

Surgery requires family consent.

The doctors and nurses on duty here finally understood what the tertiary hospital’s doctor was here to rescue. The nurse ran out to prepare for the emergency surgery.

Doctor Hu turned around and walked out from behind the emergency room curtain to speak with the patient’s family.

Unable to see clearly, at this moment, daring to directly speak to the possibly emotionally unstable family member, one can’t help but admire the boldness of a clinical boss. The patient’s husband was outside, pacing anxiously for news of his wife. Upon hearing that the doctor came out, he immediately limped over and asked, "Doctor, how’s my wife?"

At this moment, how should the doctor deliver the news of the patient’s impending death? The clinic’s on-duty doctor stepped aside, fearing the family might collapse emotionally and seize the doctor. Mainly, facing such sudden events which could result in two lives lost, the patient’s family likely isn’t mentally prepared to accept such a tragic outcome.

Doctor Hu, with a blurred vision unable to discern the expression on the family’s face, could sense the family’s near frantic emotion through her hearing. Her mouth opened, without hesitation, directly stating, "Your wife is beyond saving. So, we need to perform a Cesarean Section on her now."

"I understand, doctor, please operate on her, save her."

"Listen to me. We can only do everything we can to extract the child from her womb. Whether this child can survive after being extracted depends on subsequent conditions. I hope you immediately consent to us performing a Cesarean Section on your wife; this is the last chance to save the baby inside her."

"What do you mean by this, doctor?" After hearing these words, the husband’s voice trembled, "What happened to my wife? What child? You must be mistaken; you need to save my wife first!"

"It cannot be done." Doctor Hu said these three words, adhering to her scientific approach, with no time like Du Haiwei, to consider how to comfort the family’s emotions.

The husband grabbed both of Doctor Hu’s arms, shaking all over with emotion, "You, say it again."

"I’ll speak honestly with you; at the scene of the accident, we already found that she was possibly brain-dead on the spot. We hurried her to the hospital not to save her but to save the child in her womb before her breathing and circulation completely stopped."

Wow, the husband burst into tears.

Doctor Hu listened to the crying opposite her, expressionless. Whether she could see or not, she couldn’t deny the reality that had already occurred. As a doctor for so many years, she had seen every kind of situation. However, tonight was indeed special, likely her last night saving lives as a doctor, and for this, she must adhere even more strongly to medical principles.

In medicine, a doctor can only save those who can be saved, abandoning those beyond saving.