Chapter 375 - Everyone, Shut The F*ck Up! (1/2)

The wound on the heart was closed with three st.i.tches. The st.i.tching was done perfectly. The tension was just right to hold the two parts together.

As the heart resumed its beating, the wound was no longer leaking blood.

Without the pericardial tamponade, the beating of the heart was no longer hindered.

Zheng Ren and Su Yun continued their exploration in the chest cavity. They checked the lungs for any damage.

The cardiac tamponade from the stab wound had been their number one priority.

There was a double-walled sac around the heart and the blood from the wound would be trapped in the pericardial s.p.a.ce.

A larger wound on the heart would cause a faster bleed. As blood filled the pericardial s.p.a.ce, the cardiac output was reduced.

The pressure buildup within the pericardium disrupts the rhythm of the heart. In a severe case, the pressure in the pericardial s.p.a.ce overwhelms the pressure in the heart and the organ ceases function.

The simplest solution was to relieve the pressure by making an opening in the pericardium for the blood to flow out. The heart would restart once the high pressure was alleviated.

The biggest factor in this emergency procedure was time.

Time!

If they had adhered to the standard operating procedure for surgeries, by the time they were done with the pre-surgery preparations, the patient would likely be dead.

The patient’s best chance of survival was an emergency pericardiotomy.

Aseptic techniques and resuscitation process flow be d.a.m.ned.

Even the risk of an open pneumothorax was acceptable.

The heart was no longer beating and a pneumothorax was the least of their concerns when the patient could be brain dead soon.

A simple suture could reverse the damage. In this case, the emergency procedure also provided access to the stab wound on the heart.

The pericardiotomy was a last resort procedure—a simple solution to a life-threatening condition.

…

Outside the operating room, emotions were running high.

The patient’s family and friends were gathered. They flew into a fury when they saw the big footprint stamped on the patient’s lover and the dejected look on her face.

The hospital rumor mill was operating at full speed. There were rumors of the patient being p.r.o.nounced dead on arrival, yet the emergency doctors insisted on opening up the patient. Understandably, the family and friends did not take kindly to the news.

The sight of the b.l.o.o.d.y emergency response room was no solace to them.

“There’s no need to cut him open if he was already dead!”

“Which doctor killed him?”

“Where’s the doctor? Who is responsible here?”

As the news only got out a while ago, there were few family members.

However, their anger at the hospital was palpable.

They were eager to blame someone for the patient’s death.

In their minds, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was the go-to procedure when it came to saving lives.

That was what the television and novels depicted.

According to the medical personnel on the 120 ambulance, the victim had died in the ambulance, and yet the hospital doctors cut him open. They were not above mutilating a dead body…

Where was the logic?

The law?

The morals?

The family’s rage was fed with dramatic stories by bystanders in the emergency department.