The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 510 Emergency Center’s “Big Task” (extras for loneliness, emptiness, and cold 671112, 5/8 added)
"Why are you all so nervous? Today is New Year’s Eve, cheer up!" Liu Banxia shouted.
The interns managed a smile. They had already finished their dinner, and the entire afternoon had been strangely quiet with no patients; how could they not worry?
"Why don’t you guys take a nap first? It’s better than just idling here. Don’t worry, I’ll wake you up for the dumplings at the year-end vigil tonight," Liu Banxia said with a smile.
"No thanks, I won’t eat dumplings tonight," Xu Yino quickly shook her head.
"Why are you so scared? You better rest. I’ll go chat with Boss," Liu Banxia said, then sauntered over to Shi Lei.
"Why are you coming over here? You’re giving off an ominous vibe," Shi Lei asked, wary.
"Nothing really. I just thought I needed to discuss some insights on residency training with Boss," Liu Banxia said seriously.
"Heh, heh, President Liu, what did I tell you before? Your deputy director position is pretty secure, right?" Wang Chao asked with a grin.
"Well... who knows what will happen? It will probably be discussed at a meeting, right? My only shortcoming is seniority. What if they hire some expert from elsewhere? Then I won’t be so outstanding," Liu Banxia said.
"You’re being silly. The Chief Director himself said it; they’re determined to push this through," Wang Chao said, glancing cautiously to the side.
"Aren’t you going to analyze it carefully? Why is the hospital going to intensify its focus on education and training? It’s not just to keep the qualifications for education and training. That qualification can be maintained just by going through the motions."
"It’s about the Chief Director’s plans, isn’t it?" Liu Banxia asked.
Wang Chao nodded. "Education and training are actually an extension of college education. Our hospital is affiliated with the medical school. Still don’t get it?"
"Even though Xu Yino and the others were carefully chosen, if you really wanted to select from all the graduates every year, they wouldn’t be the only ones."
"At present, only they stand out the most, and the medical school is also paying close attention to them. Both the hospital and the medical school have to focus on education and training."
"Otherwise, the graduates will just fade into mediocrity after they leave. The school’s reputation and enrollment will be affected in the future."
Liu Banxia gave him a thumbs-up. "Listening to you is more enlightening than reading books for ten years. You’ll surely make a great assistant to the director one day, keep it up."
Wang Chao shook his head. "That’ll take a long time. When you become Chief Director, I can give you a hand. But you don’t seem interested in that path, do you?"
"You’re not interested in making money; Qiaoqiao manages all your finances. And you’re too lazy to worry about such things. Otherwise, you could really work hard and show your best side. Maybe in ten or fifteen years, you might really have a chance at the Chief Director’s seat."
"Oh, come on! What’s so good about that? How much hair would I lose over those ten-plus years? Forget it. Whoever wants to play that game can go for it; I’m not getting involved," Liu Banxia shook his head.
He used to be a naive rookie who, although knowing a bit about hospitals, had never understood them so thoroughly.
It wasn’t quite like a beggar guessing what the emperor ate every day, but it was still a blind guess—imagining big meat buns as the ultimate delicacy.
Now, he was vaguely beginning to grasp that level. Even someone as single-minded as Zhou Shuwen had to expend some mental energy on such matters; he wouldn’t subject himself to that kind of ordeal.
Everyone has their own way of living. Anyway, now that he had Qiaoqiao, he wasn’t as "ambitious" as before.
There wasn’t much to do today; everyone could openly slack off. Calling home, making video calls—it was all permissible.
Even Liu Banxia went back to the lounge and made a video call to Qiaoqiao.
Within less than ten seconds, Qiaoqiao answered, and the first thing that appeared on screen was Doudou.
The little guy was staring with wide eyes, as if curious why Liu Banxia was on the screen. But the little fellow didn’t seem to care much; he stretched out a small arm and pulled Tang Dou’s large head over.
"How’s it going? Is it busy there? We’ve had a lot of delicious food at home," Qiaoqiao’s voice came over, while Tang Dou’s large head still filled the screen.
"It’s alright, not too busy. We’ll see how tonight goes. What are our parents up to? Why does it sound so quiet on your end?" Liu Banxia asked.
"Hahaha, Brother Banxia, missing home a lot, huh?" Qiu Mingyuan’s voice came over.
"Tsk, tsk, you guys are really lively over there. So you’re all spending New Year’s together?" Liu Banxia asked.
"Of course! Otherwise, it wouldn’t be much fun. We’ve even assembled two tables for mahjong. Sister Qiaoqiao and I are in charge of watching the kids and waiting on the players," Qiu Mingyuan said.
"Look what this is?"
At this moment, Tang Dou’s large head was pushed aside, and Qiaoqiao gleefully held up a big crab leg.
"Eat some more for me. If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to have half a day or a whole night off around the fifth day of the Lunar New Year," Liu Banxia said.
"Okay. Anyway, I’ll have Uncle and Auntie stay until after the Lantern Festival. There’s not much to do at home, so why go back so early?" Qiaoqiao said.
"Hehe, I don’t have to walk Tang Dou anymore. Uncle really dotes on Tang Dou; he takes him out for a walk every morning, and I get to sleep in."
If it were any other girl, she definitely wouldn’t mention this, for fear of being seen as a lazy girl. But Qiaoqiao wasn’t like that. She was genuine, always saying whatever was on her mind, never hiding anything.
Then Qiaoqiao faithfully fulfilled Liu Banxia’s request, brought over some leftovers, and put on a ’mukbang’ for Liu Banxia with Qiu Mingyuan.
Even Tang Dou and Tiggie, the two dogs, were given half a pig’s trotter each, which made Liu Banxia incredibly envious.
"President Liu, bad news! A vehicle lost control and crashed into a crowd; a large number of injured will be sent over," a dispatch nurse rushed in to report.
"Qiaoqiao, I have to go, duty calls," Liu Banxia said quickly.
"Okay, you go. Saving lives is the top priority," Qiaoqiao said, then hung up the video call.
When he got outside, the others had already gathered; Zhou Shuwen was even already in his scrubs.
"Director, how severe is the situation?" Liu Banxia asked hastily.
"It’s not clear yet. Our hospital has dispatched ambulances to the scene, but the total number of casualties is still unknown. Between those hit by the car and those injured in the stampede, there should be no fewer than fifty injured," Zhou Shuwen said.
"How on earth did this happen?" Liu Banxia asked in astonishment.
"Sigh, who knows how that car ended up reversing into a crowd watching the Yangko dance. Then people panicked. Many were pushed down in the chaos," Zhou Shuwen sighed.
Liu Banxia frowned. He saw Xu Peichen and the orthopedic doctors coming over and gave them a nod.
The orthopedics team would definitely have their hands full; fractures and dislocations were all too common in such incidents.
"Listen up," Zhou Shuwen said. "A lot of patients will be arriving soon."
"Orthopedic doctors, if a critically injured patient has a fracture, attend immediately. I, Shi Lei, Wei Yuan, Wang Chao, and Qi Wentai will each take one intern to receive patients."
"Cardiothoracic surgeons on standby, ready to receive patients at any time. Nurses, prepare all essential supplies. We don’t know how long this will go on."
"What about me, Director?" Liu Banxia raised his hand.
"You’ll be the floater; go wherever you’re needed after initial assessment. The ambulances are about to arrive; prepare to receive them," Zhou Shuwen instructed.
Liu Banxia opened his mouth. He’d just completed a rotation as a floater; why was he being assigned that role again?
But there wasn’t much time to dwell on it, as the sound of sirens from ambulances and police cars, mixed with the blare of horns, could already be heard outside.
"Director Zhou, the patient is a 62-year-old male. He lost consciousness after boarding the ambulance. His blood pressure is 70/110, heart rate 110. Preliminary diagnosis is a heart attack; we administered aspirin and nitroglycerin in the ambulance," an EMT from their own hospital reported, wheeling a patient in.
"Xu Guosheng, take this one," Zhou Shuwen ordered.
"Male, 32 years old, blood pressure 70/90, heart rate 100. Injured by vehicle impact, suspected lumbar and cervical spine injuries, nasal bone fracture," the second EMT reported, wheeling in another patient.
"To Resuscitation Room One. Qi Wentai, take this patient. Orthopedics, follow up," Zhou Shuwen ordered.
"Wu Mingyu will follow," Xu Peichen also interjected.
"Blood pressure 50/70, heart rate 120, male, stampede injury. The patient was unconscious at the scene; given blood and fluid resuscitation in the ambulance," the third EMT reported as the patient was wheeled in.
"To Resuscitation Room Two. Liang Xiaolin, come with me. Liu Banxia, you handle the triage," Zhou Shuwen commanded.
"Sixteen-year-old male, open fracture of the femur, blunt abdominal trauma with distension. Blood pressure 60/90, heart rate 105. In the ambulance, we administered fluids, blood, and controlled bleeding."
"Thirty-six-year-old female, lacerations on the head. Blood pressure 80/120. She was unconscious at the scene and has multiple fractures."
The fourth and fifth patients were wheeled in together.
"Shi Lei, take the male patient to Resuscitation Room Three. Wei Yuan, take the female patient to Resuscitation Room Four. Orthopedics, follow up. Dr. Chen, stand by," Liu Banxia instructed.
"Twenty-one-year-old female, bilateral hip dislocation, strong distal pulses," the sixth EMT announced as the patient was wheeled in.
"Take her to an examination bed first," Liu Banxia said. "I’ll go over in a moment."
"Two victims trapped by a food cart: one with an abdominal puncture wound, the other with crush injuries. The situation at the scene was complex. After removing their external fixation, we brought them over together. Vital signs stable." This time, the EMT wheeled in two patients on a single stretcher.
"Wang Chao, Dr. Chen, these two are yours," Liu Banxia said.
"Take them to Resuscitation Room Four; wheel them over slowly," Chen Xuehai commanded.
"Sixty-five-year-old male, left femoral fracture, vital signs stable," another EMT announced as a patient was wheeled in.
"Take him to an examination bed over there for now; I’ll check on him later," Liu Banxia said after a quick glance.
Once the patient was wheeled away and he saw no more ambulances outside, Liu Banxia finally let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, they hadn’t been overwhelmed with too many patients at once; otherwise, they really wouldn’t have been able to cope.
However, this only meant the ambulance arrivals had stopped. There were still a number of injured people who had come in on their own; they would just have to wait for now.
Liu Banxia flexed his hands. Perhaps this was the real reason Director Zhou had made him the floater. The number of these less critical but still injured patients was also considerable, and they would need his help for quick assessment and treatment.
This incident was on a much larger scale than the last one.
