Chapter 483: The Most Dangerous Situation

"Teacher Zhai, that can't be right," Zhao Mengmeng asked, looking extremely puzzled.

"It's very possible," Zhai Yuhan said. "In clinical practice, the probability of encountering such patients isn't high, but you will still run into them given enough time. There's an old saying: 'If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet.' That's roughly what it means."

"This..." Zhao Mengmeng still wore an expression of disbelief.

To a child in an ivory tower, the world is clean and beautiful, full of vitality, just as the propaganda says.

But Zhai Yuhan, who had already been ground into the dirt by the iron fist of society, no longer held such thoughts.

"In the Emergency Department, some people always claim they have all sorts of discomfort, faking symptoms very convincingly, just to get Dulingding. A few years ago—I didn't experience it myself, but I heard about it—there were even people who went to the Emergency Department to snatch Dulingding."

"..." Zhao Mengmeng was speechless.

"That's the simplest kind; there are ones that are more difficult. For example, a pregnant woman who discovers she has a stillbirth during a prenatal checkup might hide her medical history and go to the Emergency Department for an IV drip, only to claim later that it was caused by the medication." Zhai Yuhan felt a bit disgusted talking about these things, but she said them anyway.

It was clear that Zhao Mengmeng needed clinical experience. She had been very diligent in her work recently, and Zhai Yuhan wanted her to know the sinister side of clinical practice, sketching out as complete a picture of the medical environment as possible.

Otherwise, given Zhao Mengmeng's perception of the world, if she were to suddenly charge in headfirst, she would likely be ground into sparks by society very quickly.

As for what would happen then, it would be hard to say.

This could also be considered a small gain for Zhao Mengmeng from participating in the program.

"This... is just too excessive," Zhao Mengmeng stammered.

"There are even more excessive things," Ji Xiang said. "I heard from Meng Laoshi in the Emergency Department that a few years ago, in the years before the crackdown on organized crime, human traffickers would kidnap children who were already sick and couldn't be sold. If they died, they died, and they would carry them to the hospital to extort money."

"Extort money?! How do they extort it?"

"They would hold the child and, taking advantage of the busy staff, describe some symptoms, pretending the child was asleep. Then they would refuse a physical examination, saying the child had finally fallen asleep and shouldn't be disturbed, asking them to just give an injection and let the child sleep quietly."

"The doctors and nurses are busy and don't have time to check. If they give an injection as requested, before long, they will claim the child was killed by the hospital's injection."

"!!!" Zhao Mengmeng's face turned white, deathly pale.

The things Ji Xiang described made her shudder; Zhao Mengmeng found it hard to imagine that such people existed.

In just an instant, she projected herself into the situation.

If she were to encounter a similar situation in clinical practice, it would likely end in disaster.

Discovering the child is "dead" shortly after an injection... the doctor would be unable to escape responsibility no matter what.

Zhao Mengmeng was terrified; tears welled up in her eyes, and she was on the verge of crying.

"There are many similar things; Mengmeng, be careful in the future." Zhai Yuhan gave Ji Xiang a deep look before admonishing Zhao Mengmeng.

Zhao Mengmeng was a bit dazed, nodding blankly.

"Doctor Xiao Ji, what is the most dangerous situation you've encountered in clinical practice?" Zhai Yuhan asked.

"I've only been in Standardized Residency Training for less than half a year," Ji Xiang shrugged. "I haven't encountered such situations; I've only heard about them."

Seeing Ji Xiang say such shameless things with a face full of righteousness, Zhai Yuhan was also left speechless.

"Medical Disturbances are fewer now, and I haven't seen any overly unreasonable patients or family members. But I heard from Meng Laoshi in the Emergency Department that there are a few types of patients he is particularly wary of. Excluding Pediatrics, the ones he least wants to take are patients with Rib Fracture."

"Rib Fracture?! Isn't that just Hemopneumothorax? What's there to be afraid of? Just perform a Closed Thoracic Drainage, and if you drain more than 200ml of dark red bloody fluid within an hour, you can take them to surgery," Zhai Yuhan said with slight disdain.

She had changed her opinion of Ji Xiang, but she still subconsciously assumed the Doctor Meng that Ji Xiang spoke of was a lower-level doctor from a prefecture-level city.

"Meng Laoshi said that in his twenty years of work, he has encountered 8 patients with Rib Fracture complicated by Aortic Dissection," Ji Xiang said.

Zhao Mengmeng didn't understand what Ji Xiang meant, but Zhai Yuhan understood instantly.

Aortic Dissection is extremely dangerous. Although it can sometimes be confused with other illnesses, the intense tearing pain in the chest and back can usually provide a clue.

However, if a Rib Fracture is complicated by Aortic Dissection, the pain from the fracture masks the symptoms, and the pain caused by the Aortic Dissection itself is mistaken for fracture pain.

Once they take painkillers or receive an intramuscular injection and the patient falls into a deep sleep, even if they don't die in their sleep, the moment the patient wakes up and sits up, their blood pressure rises, and it is highly likely that the dissection will suddenly rupture, causing them to die in the ward.

At that point...

Facing the situation described by Ji Xiang, Zhai Yuhan immediately thought of the family members' lack of understanding—the patient walked in, clear-headed and articulate, so how could they just die?

This was different from bringing in a child who was already dead to stage a scam; what Ji Xiang described was a pure medical condition, and one that the attending doctor failed to detect.

To be reasonable, if such a case were handled by the Medical Mediation Committee, it would at least be a liability accident.

The family members might even refuse to understand or cooperate, leaving the corpse in the ward and refusing to move it no matter what...

Sweat had already broken out on Zhai Yuhan, and her palms were damp.

"This situation is the most dangerous. Perhaps there are other situations, such as the one-in-fifty-thousand probability of Carotid Intimal Avulsion Syndrome, or Delayed Cerebral Hemorrhage, etc. But all things considered, Meng Laoshi still thinks Rib Fracture complicated by Aortic Dissection is the most dangerous."

"Doctor Xiao Ji, how does that Meng Laoshi handle it? Does your hospital perform emergency 64 slice CT at night?" Zhai Yuhan asked.

"Meng Laoshi says he isn't liked by patients, nor is he liked by the doctors in the inpatient department." Ji Xiang smiled slightly when mentioning Meng Qingfei; he missed him a little after not being on duty with him for a few days.

"How so?"

"Whenever there is a patient with a Rib Fracture, others just do a Chest X-ray, but Meng Laoshi insists that the patient get a Chest CT. He always mocks himself, saying he's the kind of clumsy doctor who can't see a patient without a machine."

"But a Chest CT might not necessarily show it," Zhai Yuhan immediately pointed out the flaw in Ji Xiang's words.

"Meng Laoshi's point is that as long as there is a point of suspicion, he will definitely ask the Thoracic Surgery Resident Chief for a consultation," Ji Xiang said. "He is a bit overly cautious, but I think Meng Laoshi was scared out of his wits."

"Like... a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow?"

When she heard Ji Xiang use the term "bird startled by the mere twang of a bow," Zhai Yuhan smiled bitterly.

As a Resident Chief, she knew very well what it meant to be a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow. Just like a patient with Gallbladder Torsion, if you run into one, you can only say your luck is bad.

"Meng Laoshi often says that as a doctor, one must be careful and cautious, like walking on thin ice. He also says..."

Ji Xiang spoke on and on.

Originally, it was Zhai Yuhan who was supposed to teach Ji Xiang and Zhao Mengmeng, but after a few rounds of conversation, it turned into Ji Xiang teaching them.

(End of chapter)