Chief Ji would open the chest and suture the organs only to a level that they could be passed over to each department. Cardiac surgery, hepatobiliary pancreas, thoracic, wherever it was needed. The only thing important here was time.
“It is possible. Because it is Prof. Choi and Chief Ji. If I assist both of you at the same time, I can coordinate it well enough.”
As soon as he realized it was possible to switch between the senses, he threw out the possibility.
Prof. Choi crossed his arms with one hand on his chin and looked at the patient and Dowook in turn.
It was as if he was judging who was closer to death, and it made Dowook shrink back internally.
Prof. Choi asked Chief Ji.
“What do you think?”
“I think if we want to avoid brain death and save the patient, simultaneous surgery is the right way to go about this. The problem is that there is not enough medical staff to do it. They’re all waiting for surgery over there as well. If we could have at least one more experienced assistant…”
“Dr. Park should be enough for the role of the main assistant.”
“There will be two people performing surgeries and you’re saying only one first is enough?”
First Assistant surgeon. Chief Ji also acknowledged Dowook’s skills to some extent.
Prof. Choi stared at Dowook.
“Dr. Park has an exceptional ability to understand the surgeon’s intention. That assistance is the reason why I’m saying it would be possible.”
“That much? This is the first time I’m hearing Prof. Choi speak well of someone.”
“There was no one worthy of praise.”
“And there were tons of people to scold?”
“Well….”
Prof. Choi didn’t deny the statement. Chief Ji also didn’t continue to ask and looked at Dowook.
“I guess it’s true since Myeong Sae University expert surgeon is saying it. Let’s move, Dr. Park. this patient needs to be saved.”
Thus, an unexpected emergency cooperative operation was decided.
Drrrk.
When the door of the operating room opened, Dowook, who had finished disinfecting his hands, entered as An Hosan turned to look at him while he was anesthetizing the patient.
“You’re opening both at the same time?”
“Things happened.”
“Will the vitals last? Since it’s Prof. Choi, he’ll start cursing up a storm the moment the vitals fall.”
“I’m sorry about that part. You have hard work ahead of you, Dr. An.”
“It’s not something you should apologize for, Dr. Dowook. Let’s work hard.”
With his gown and gloves on, Dowook checked the readiness of the operating room with the lingering impressions of the two people’s senses.
Drrrk.
“Senior.”
“Dr. Park.”
2nd-year resident Kim Seong Tae and intern Woo* Seok Gyu rushed in. There were not enough scrub nurses to participate in the surgery, so they were called in at the last minute.
[*T/N: The author seems to have changed the last name of this intern. Or there's two with the same first name but different last name.]
“Seong Tae, you shave the patient first, Seok Gyu, you stand beside the nurse and help her with the surgical set-up.”
Holding the razor, Kim Seong Tae’s eyes gazed at the state of the patient’s head.
“Eugh. It’s totally cracked open. Senior, what should I do about the hair tangled in the wound?”
“Irrigate as much as possible, and cut as short as you can.”
At Kim Seong Tae’s amazement as he washed the head wound, Dowook asked.
“Is this your first time seeing this kind of patient?”
“These days, everyone’s pretty good about wearing their seatbelts so this kind of skull fracture patient is pretty rare. Their hearts give out first.”
“His heart was crushed, too. His guts, too.”
“Whaat?”
A sterile cloth was applied over both the head and chest.
Kim Seong Tae, who came down only because Dowook called, immediately realized that the operation was serious.
Drrrk.
Chief Ji Hwi-gwan and Prof. Choi entered the operating room one after the other.
Kim Seong Tar blinked his eyes in bewilderment at seeing both Commander G and Last Choi put on sterile gloves.
“Senior, this surgery will be performed by Prof….”
“Keep your head on straight. Or you might be taken to the mortuary instead of this patient.”
After putting on a gown, Prof. Choi passed by with a terrifying aura that caused Kim Seong Tae to flinch and swallow. Then he turned to Dowook and asked.
“That thing about the mortuary, it was a joke, right? I’m wide awake now.”
“I also wish it was a joke.”
It was nice to borrow Chief Ji’s sense in the emergency center, but he didn’t expect to also receive the Nobel Peace Prize mindset of wanting to save everyone.
Professor Choi scanned the room and looked displeased.
“What kind of cleanliness is this? Do you plan to detonate a germ bomb? You over there! Where are you rubbing your contaminated gown?!”
At Last Choi’s gaze that seemed to shoot lasers, Woo Seok Gyu flinched and dropped the clamp he was holding in his hand.
Clink.
Steel tongs from the tool cart. Woo Seok Gyu, startled and immediately shouted.
“I apologize.”
‘….I really hope it was a joke.’
* * *
The space was illuminated by circular LED lights in the operating room.
Prof. Choi at the head, Chief Ji by the left of the chest, Dowook at the right of the chest. After checking everyone else’s positions, he yelled.
“Starting surgery to preserve open skull fracture, dura mater and cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and multiple organ damage in the thoracic cavity!”
[TN: Dura mater is a thick membrane made of dense irregular connective tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord]
And so began the surgery on the patient whose state was hard to describe.
Prof. Choi and Chief Ji both stretched out their hands.
“Scalpel.”
“Scalpel.”
With a chin gesture, Dowook signaled Kim Seong Tae and Woo Seok Gyu to help out. Currently, those two were valuable resources no different from his arms and legs.
The two scalpels with their blades already secured in advance were placed in their hands.
A piece of crushed scalp was exposed, and a red line was drawn in the middle of the chest.
Be-be-beep.
When the two areas were opened, the vital monitor showed signs of a significant drop in blood pressure. Not a good sign as expected. Now, he needed the sense of Chief Ji who was an expert in resuscitation medicine.
Tingle.
When he accepted someone’s sense, the other person’s sense dimmed at that moment. At the instant of intersection, a strange collision occurred in his neural circuits.
Like the two people’s senses becoming one.
Thanks to that, he could clearly see the outline of the surgeries Prof. Choi and Chief Ji would perform.
Dowook’s gaze turned to An Hosan.
“Please put in both Norphin and Dopa.”
“Boosters already?”
“We need to increase blood pressure as much as possible and give up on hypothermia, acidosis, and blood coagulation for the time being.”
“That’s just a vicious cycle.”
“Not in the brain.”
Chief Ji, who was putting a lot of large gauze in the chest to control the bleeding, looked at Dowook in surprise.
“You know that we opened the chest to control that vicious cycle Dr. Park just mentioned, right?”
“I know. Just a sec….”
Confirming that the vasopressor was administered, Dowook suggested the first adjustment.
“If we double the judgment and act, we can return to normal before then. I’ll check the abdomen.”
“You, Dr. Park?”
“Yes.”
“If you miss even a little necrotic tissue, this patient will eventually die. Will you still do it?”
In a patient who skipped the CT and entered the operating room, the naked eye and sense of fingertips were the only search devices.
One needed the experience of having put their hands into a patient numerous times for it to work.
Dowook just said that he could do this himself. Chief Ji’s distrust was unavoidable.
‘Let’s just treat it rather than argue about diagnoses.’
