Chapter 1520: Surgery at the scene
A new casualty appeared, and it was a critically injured one.
Seeing a plastic ruler piercing into the little girl"s belly, many onlookers gasped in horror, and the atmosphere at the scene turned bleak.
"Mommy…"
"Xiao Yan, please don"t talk."
"Teacher, it hurts so much."
"The teachers will save you. You will get better."
"The ambulance will be here soon. Hold on a little longer, child."
"Hold on, you can"t fall asleep now."
Seeing their cla.s.smate on the verge of death, many of Xiaoyan"s cla.s.smates burst into tears, and several teachers couldn"t hold back their tears, their voices choked with emotion.
Dong Xuebing approached, gritting his teeth as he looked at the girl but said nothing.
A young woman sighed sorrowfully, unable to bear looking any longer, and turned her head away.
Seeing Dong Xuebing"s silence, the male teacher hurriedly said to the young woman, "Save her! Aren"t you from the hospital? Hurry and save her!"
The young woman hesitated for a moment. "I"m sorry, I work in the hospital"s logistics department."
A female teacher exclaimed anxiously, "But you must know something! Please help the child!"
The young woman was also distressed. Seeing everyone looking at her, she explained, tears welling, "I"m powerless. I"m sorry. The ambulance won"t arrive within twenty minutes, and even if it does, with the traffic congestion, it"s impossible to get her to the hospital and back within an hour. The ruler is inserted so deep it will require surgery. Even if I"m from the logistics department, a regular surgeon would find it difficult to perform this surgery. The difficulty is immense, so the child may not be saved. Please call her parents as soon as possible, so they can…" She choked up, "…so they can see her one last time."
A little girl cried, "It"s impossible!"
Another cla.s.smate shouted, "Xiaoyan can be saved!"
Dong Xuebing hesitated. He didn"t know how to handle the situation.
"We need surgery! Isn"t there a first aid kit? Quickly, perform the surgery!" The male teacher was panicking, having lost his composure.
The young woman clenched her fists in pain. "I"m not a doctor, and neither is this young man. We might be able to handle some emergency first aid, but for surgery, unless there"s an experienced surgeon, the child probably won"t last twenty minutes. We want to save the child, but we can"t do anything. This time, I was delivering medical supplies to the hospital. Although there are sutures and needles in the car, there"s no doctor…"
Everyone fell silent.
But Dong Xuebing"s eyes lit up. "What did you say? You have surgical tools in your car?"
The young woman looked at him. "Yes, although not complete, they should be sufficient. But there"s no surgical knife in my car, and the supplies are limited. And we"re not surgeons…"
Dong Xuebing suddenly became energized. "Who has a knife? Anyone?"
"I have a Swiss army knife. Will that work?" A man in sportswear, involved in the rescue efforts, offered.
"Great, let me use it. Thank you." Dong Xuebing quickly took the knife from him. It was sharp. He immediately poured some liquor from a bottle he got from someone else to disinfect it, then grabbed a bottle of mineral water that had fallen to the ground and rinsed it off. Under the puzzled gaze of everyone, Dong Xuebing turned to the young woman and said, "We have a surgical knife. Prepare the suture needle and thread. I"ll perform the surgery."
The young woman was stunned. "You…"
Dong Xuebing hurriedly said, "Hurry, there"s no time."
Seeing this young man about to act, the people around thought it might be worth a try, even if it was a desperate move. After all, the child was beyond saving. It was better to try something than to do nothing.
"Hurry, give it to him."
"Miss, I"ll help you carry these." The young woman groggily helped move the items with others.
Dong Xuebing quickly instructed, "Everyone, step back and don"t stay close to the patient. Someone bring a larger piece of cloth to lay her flat."
Soon, someone brought out a camping blanket.
Several teachers carefully lifted the pale-faced little girl onto the blanket.
Dong Xuebing turned to the young woman. "You"re the only one here who understands. Help me as my a.s.sistant."
The young woman hesitated. "No problem, but are you sure about this surgery?"
"Don"t worry, I can do it." Dong Xuebing had absolute confidence in himself. He had performed this type of surgery not once but twice before, albeit in different circ.u.mstances.
The young woman still wasn"t entirely convinced. "But we don"t have anesthesia, and that Swiss army knife isn"t a proper surgical tool. When you make the incision…"
"Do you have any other ideas?" Dong Xuebing retorted.
The young woman hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind. "Fine, I"ll fully cooperate with you." She then took out all the surgical tools and materials.
Dong Xuebing had performed surgery in an operating room and once in an ambulance before, but performing surgery in an open-air environment like this was a first for him. He borrowed a clean white coat from a woman and found a baseball cap to cover his hair. The young woman gave him a mask, and she also had medical gloves in her car.
Their equipment wasn"t complete, but it would suffice.
Dong Xuebing took a deep breath, calming himself down and trying to achieve a state of tranquility. He bent down and glanced at the weakly calling for her mother, "Your name is Xiaoyan, right? Don"t be afraid. Just sleep for a while. When you wake up, you"ll see your mother."
Xiaoyan could barely keep her eyes open. "Really?"
Dong Xuebing nodded. "Yes, I promise you. Don"t be afraid. In two months, you"ll be back on your feet. I"ll ask your mom to take you to the amus.e.m.e.nt park."
Xiaoyan softly murmured an "Okay," a hint of sweet antic.i.p.ation flas.h.i.+ng in her eyes.
Seeing Xiaoyan"s expression, many people felt a pang of sadness that words couldn"t express.
"Alright, sleep now," Dong Xuebing raised his hand slightly, then decisively made a hand chop on Xiaoyan"s neck, causing her to faint immediately.
"Ah!"
"Xiaoyan!"
"What are you doing?"
"How dare you hurt my student!"
The young woman immediately shouted, "Everyone, stay back! Don"t interfere with the operation. We don"t have anesthesia, so this is the only way."
Upon hearing this, everyone finally understood.
If Xiaoyan were to scream and move around during the surgery, it would affect the suturing process. This was a last resort.
Dong Xuebing took a breath. "Are you ready?"
"I"m ready." The young woman was on standby, although her body was tense.
Dong Xuebing, like an experienced surgeon, patted the trembling hand of the young woman. "Don"t be nervous. The child won"t die. I"m here."
The young woman forced a smile and took a few deep breaths. "Okay, I"m ready."
As a logistics staff member, she had never been on an operating table before, so she was naturally extremely nervous. But under Dong Xuebing"s calm demeanor, she quickly adjusted. Her legs stopped trembling, and she forcedly held the disinfectant and hemostatic cotton.
"Do you know the procedure?"
"I have a general understanding."
"Alright, let"s begin."
Dong Xuebing"s gaze was determined as he felt the increasingly cold temperature of the little girl"s hand. Knowing there was no time to waste, he used the knife to clear away the clothing around her abdomen. Dong Xuebing reached for the ruler embedded in her abdomen and quickly extracted it.
Time seemed to slow down for Dong Xuebing. In the eyes of the bystanders, his movements were lightning-fast. Pulling out the ruler, staunching the bleeding, disinfecting—everything was done seamlessly, leaving many stunned.
However, the young woman"s eyes still held a worried tint. She knew that no matter what happened before, the st.i.tching was crucial. They didn"t even have hemostatic forceps. But then, to her astonishment, she saw Dong Xuebing swiftly pick up two disinfected forceps with one hand. With a swift motion, he clamped down on the severed main blood vessels, managing to stop the bleeding slightly. His other hand grabbed the suture needle and thread handed to him by the young woman and began st.i.tching.
One st.i.tch. Three st.i.tches. Five st.i.tches. One blood vessel was quickly sutured.
With this success, even the young woman"s expression changed.
Without any delay, Dong Xuebing again used the forceps to staunch the bleeding, washed away the acc.u.mulated blood, and resumed st.i.tching. With the skill of a magician, he adjusted the position of the forceps with one hand, even spinning them on his fingers, before gripping another blood vessel and stopping the bleeding. He took a new suture needle with his right hand and continued st.i.tching.
Eight st.i.tches. Ten st.i.tches. Twelve st.i.tches. Another blood vessel was sutured.
Releasing the forceps, the blood vessel did not bleed again, proving the success of the suturing. Without hesitation, Dong Xuebing seized the opportunity to clamp down on the third ruptured blood vessel, which was not a major vessel, and ligated it directly.
One vessel. Three vessels. Five vessels. Each blood vessel was dealt with methodically.
With the operation completed, Dong Xuebing immediately asked, "Blood pressure."
"Ah."
"Blood pressure."
The young woman finally reacted and hurried to measure it. Afterward, she looked shocked and exclaimed, "50 over 80! The blood pressure is rising!"
Dong Xuebing nodded in satisfaction. Finally, he switched to a different type of suture thread and quickly sewed up the girl"s abdominal flesh and skin.