Chapter 77 THE DOCTOR'S FIGHT
ARYA'S POV
I was already running towards the doors that lead to the emergency area. I need the crash cart and the trauma bay to be ready.
“Nala, get two bags of O-negative blood from the fridge. We have to hurry up with the preparations for the trauma.” I said with a loud and firm voice that it overpowered the fear that I was feeling.
I got to the emergency area. That was when I saw a big cloud of dust. I heard the loud noise of a diesel engine outside. The back doors of a jeep, which was a beat-up Land Rover and not the usual ambulance flew open.
Four men were desperately pulling a man from the vehicle. These men were soldiers and they were covered in dirt that was reddish-brown. Their uniforms were all ripped. The soldiers' faces were covered in sweat and they all wore a worried look on their faces.
The man who was hurt was wrapped in a field blanket which was rough and soaked in blood.
The first face that I saw and knew was Mike's face. My chest tightened on seeing him.
He had all his patrol stuff, his face was dirty and his eyes were really wide and scared when they looked at mine. He did not look guilty or sorry he just looked really afraid. This was the fear of a man who was watching his friend die.
“Get him on the trauma table.” I ordered as I pointed to the spot where I wanted him to be.
"Nala, turn on the light, get the suction ready, we need to take a look at his chest!"
They lifted the soldier onto the stainless-steel table. I pulled the blanket off him, that was when I noticed that the soldier was badly hurt.
The soldier, whom I did not know his name but his rank showed he was a Sergeant, was, in a really bad state. He had lost a lot of blood. He was experiencing shock as his skin looked very pale and it felt cold. His pulse was weak and hard to find. The soldier was breathing fast but not deeply.
The wound on the man's belly and right side was really big and torn. The wound was probably caused by a bullet or shrapnel as lot of blood oozed out uncontrollably.
This told me that the wound had damaged a blood vessel or a solid organ like the liver or something.
“What is going on Mike? I need an answer.” I asked as I was already putting on a surgical gown. We had few medical staffs working here and on weekends, the doctors were always hardly available so I had to step in immediately.
Mike said "Border patrol" with a lot of trouble leaning against the table. He was really struggling to breathe. His chest was moving up and down.
“We were ambushed,” he added.
“We had just gotten through a field with lots of mines in it. Then suddenly people started shooting at us. My friend was hit in the side. We have been trying to stop him from bleeding for two hours right there in the field. For twenty minutes he has not said a word to us.” Mike explained.
“He is dying and we can't wait for a doctor.” I quickly said.
I had to become the doctor since I had knowledge on how to deal with emergency cases otherwise, we would lose him. It wasn't against my practice here as doctors were hardly available.
My hands just did what they had to do because I had been doing this job for sometime. I learned how to do things without thinking about them from all the years I spent in the hospital and out in this profession.
"Nala I need two needles for his veins right now!" I yelled.
These needles have to be pretty big like the kind they use for thick medicine.
"Mike, I need you to push down hard on this spot, " I told him. I showed him exactly where to put his hands.
He did what I said. He put a lot of pressure on the wound to try and stop the blood from coming out.
Mike's hands were shaking a bit but he was trying his best to help.
"Keep holding pressure on the wound." I instructed him.
"Nala please hurry up with those two needles for his veins." I said again.
I picked up the IO drill, a tool that helps get fluids into the bone because I knew the veins in the sergeant's arms would be closed up from the shock.
This was a painful thing to do but the sergeant did not even move, a bad sign that showed how deeply unconscious the sergeant was.
"Hang two bags of O- blood. Start giving him fluids, like Lactated Ringers as fast as you can through the Level-1 Rapid Infuser." I instructed to Nala.
I took a look at the primary survey, his airway was clear. The man was taking really shallow breaths. His consciousness score, the GCS was very low it was about five. The man could not protect his airway.
"Get the tube ready!"
When the man was breathing I saw that his chest was going up and down evenly. The sound of his breath was not as loud on the right side. This made me think that he might have a collapsed lung.
I got a needle and put it into his chest right at the second rib, near the middle of his collarbone to help him breathe better.
When I did this I heard a little hiss of air come out. It was not a big rush of air and I sighed in relief.
The circulation in his body was really bad. He had a weak pulse. In fact you could not even feel a pulse in his groin area. His blood pressure was probably very low and time was running out for the circulation to get better.
"I am saying the patient is Code Blue." I said, even though everyone already knew this. The patient was dying here in front of us.
I moved to put the breathing tube in. Nala was back with the equipment. I opened his mouth and used a special tool to get a look at his vocal cords. Then I carefully fed the tube into his windpipe.
After that I made sure the tube was secure, I connected it to the breathing bag. I started helping him breathe by hand squeezing the bag to push air into his lungs.
"Check to make sure the breathing tube is in the place, with the capnography monitor."
"This is an injury and he is losing a lot of blood. We have wasted much time." I said to myself. I could not wait for the doctors. He needed to be operated as soon as possible as debris of the bullets were still in his body.
I froze as I looked confused.
“What's wrong?” Mike asked me.
“He needs surgery.” I replied.
“Then have it done!” Mike demanded.
“I can't do it. I'm not licensed to perform surgeries.” I replied with a shaky and unsteady breath.