Chapter 395 - 257: A Rescue Ahead of Its Time
Affiliated Hospital No. 1.
Everyone from the project team had come along.
They had been conducting experiments together every day and had weathered the plagiarism incident as one. Emotionally, they were already like family.
While driving, Yang Xu had been on the phone, having Director Liu Jianbang brief the two of them on the patient’s condition ahead of time.
The other team members knew they couldn’t be of much help, so they could only pray silently.
’She has to be okay. She just has to be okay...’
After getting out of the car, Jiang He strode toward the Department of Critical Care Medicine, with Chen Hao and the others close behind.
Several attending physicians saw Jiang He and immediately stopped to greet him.
"Director Jiang, you’re back."
"Hello, Director Jiang."
Good news certainly travels fast.
Jiang He’s title had been upgraded again, from Leader Jiang to Director Jiang.
But Jiang He was in no mood for pleasantries right now.
He moved forward quickly, almost breaking into a jog.
He swiped his card to open the door and stepped into the ICU.
Gu Yizhou was standing outside Bed 2.
His eyes were bloodshot.
The moment he saw Jiang He, it was as if he’d seen his savior. "Boss... you’re here..."
Jiang He clapped him on the shoulder and pushed straight into the patient’s room.
Director Liu Jianbang was at the foot of the bed, staring at the monitor with a deep frown.
A few doctors on duty were bustling on either side of the bed, continuously pushing medications.
BEEP—
BEEP—
The sound of the monitor was so piercing.
Perhaps this was the sound of a modern-day Grim Reaper...
The blood oxygen saturation level was fluctuating between 72% and 75%.
Jiang He walked straight to the head of the bed.
He looked at the monitor.
He looked at the bedside chest X-ray.
He quickly analyzed the data and made a rapid diagnosis:
"Diffuse, large, patchy infiltrates in both lungs, with extremely reduced translucency."
"It’s presenting as white lung."
He immediately pressed on the girl’s chest to feel the resistance as the ventilator delivered a breath, then said:
"Severe ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Peak airway pressure has exceeded 40 cmH2O, lung compliance is extremely poor, and severe pulmonary consolidation has occurred."
"Director Liu, the current ventilator settings won’t hold her. Get ready to put her on ECMO immediately and switch the ventilator to an ultra-protective ventilation mode."
Liu Jianbang shook his head. "We can’t."
"Why not?"
"The hospital’s only ECMO machine was taken by the cardiac surgery department two hours ago. A patient with fulminant myocarditis and extensive myocardial necrosis is completely dependent on that machine to pump their blood. If we take it off, that patient will die instantly."
The room fell silent.
Yang Xu stood beside Jiang He, his expression equally grim.
But you can’t make bricks without straw.
Without the equipment...
’She can’t be saved. There’s absolutely no way to save her...’
Jiang He asked, "Teacher, can we borrow one?"
Yang Xu replied gravely, "It’s hard to say. This equipment... isn’t widespread yet. I’ll ask Wang Zhengchu and see if they have one."
"Okay."
Jiang He turned and walked out of the room.
He had to start calling in favors, too.
In ’08, there was one place that would definitely have this machine.
The Yangcheng Respiratory Disease Research Institute (Respiratory Research Institute).
This was the team trained by Elder Zhong.
Yangcheng had been tempered by the SARS epidemic. At this time, the Respiratory Research Institute was the definitive authority on critical respiratory emergencies in South China, and even the entire country.
As he asked Minister Lin for the phone number, Jiang He was also feeling fortunate.
If not for the international prestige he had just gained and the backing of the national 863 Program, calling the Respiratory Research Institute to request equipment without any prior connections would probably have required going through a lot of red tape.
But this was an emergency. By the time the procedures were completed, the patient would surely be beyond saving...
「A few minutes later.」
The call went through.
"Hello, this is Jiang He from the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department at Affiliated Hospital No. 1."
The doctor on duty on the other end of the line was stunned for a moment. That name had been ringing through the national medical community like thunder for the past two days:
"Dr. Jiang? How can I help you?"
"I have a patient here with extremely severe ARDS. The ECMO at Affiliated Hospital No. 1 is currently in use. The patient won’t make it through the night. I know your institute has a backup mobile ECMO for clinical research. I need to borrow it, along with a team of perfusionists. Right now."
The person on the other end hesitated. "Dr. Jiang, transferring an ECMO between hospitals requires a report from the medical affairs department, and even approval from the Health Bureau..."
"Just submit the request to your superiors and tell them I’m the one who needs it. The patient is only in her early twenties, with pulmonary consolidation and severe hypoxia. Every minute of delay means irreversible brain damage. Please, report this to your director immediately."
Less than two minutes later, the call was transferred to the on-duty deputy director of the Respiratory Research Institute.
When the deputy director heard it was Jiang He asking for help, he considered Jiang He’s current status and reputation and made a final decision:
"Director Jiang, Elder Zhong set a rule: saving a life doesn’t require rigid procedures. The machine and consumables are already being loaded. The perfusionist team will depart within three minutes. The ambulance will have its sirens on and is expected to arrive at Affiliated Hospital No. 1 in about forty minutes."
"Thank you."
After hanging up, Jiang He returned to the patient’s room.
Yang Xu was also just coming back. He shook his head and said, "City First Hospital doesn’t have one."
Jiang He said, "It’s fine. The Respiratory Research Institute’s backup machine is on its way. It’ll be here in forty minutes."
Upon hearing this, Liu Jianbang was stunned.
’He arranged to borrow an ECMO from another hospital with a single phone call?’
’Well, it had to be Jiang He. I probably wouldn’t have had enough clout to pull that off.’
But... Liu Jianbang glanced at the monitor. "Forty minutes... Her blood oxygen is only at 70% right now. Can she last for forty minutes?"
"Listen to me. There’s a chance."
Jiang He dried his hands, put on a pair of sterile gloves, and took direct command of the rescue effort.
The newly appointed Deputy Chief Physician once again demonstrated his formidable clinical authority at Affiliated Hospital No. 1.
𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
"Everyone, prone ventilation."
Jiang He issued his first aggressive order.
For a critically ill patient covered in tubes, flipping them into a prone position was a high-risk maneuver, with a significant chance of dislodging various catheters.