Chapter 2759

"Director Qiu, having you, the head of the anesthesiology department, do the anesthesia is overkill, isn't it?" Su Yun said jokingly.

"I used to be the anesthesiologist paired with Director Bao for thoracic surgeries; after Director Bao passed away, whenever there was a high‑difficulty thoracic surgery they'd call me to join. That's been the old rule for years—it can't be changed just like that." Director Qiu said this with a somewhat affected tone, his complaints mixed with more pride.

After all, this is his turf—Director Bao performed the most high‑difficulty thoracic surgeries nationwide back then, so the anesthesiologist who teamed up with him ought to feel proud.

Along the way, Zheng Ren kept asking about the patient's condition, and Director Qiu answered in detail.

Zheng Ren quickly formed a concrete idea of how the surgery should be done, but he had no intention of taking over. This isn't 912, where you can just grab someone else's case; doing such an inconsiderate thing is not something Zheng Ren would do.

Arriving at the hospital, Director Qiu led Zheng Ren and Su Yun all the way to the changing room door.

With the head of the anesthesiology department accompanying them, the usual hassle that doctors dread at this point is practically nonexistent.

I don't know why, but in every hospital the middle‑aged or elderly woman guarding the changing room is always a tough‑to‑deal‑with character—sharp‑tongued and ruthless, making people wary.

It's like that at 912—because of what happened with Fang Lin, Zheng Ren is being looked at differently. Just after he entered, he glanced at the gatekeeper and guessed that person was also hard to get along with.

But we can't do without it, otherwise the rotating staff would pack the operating room, making it as chaotic as a market.

"Director Qiu, it's good you're the head. Back when I was still a graduate student, I followed you into surgery every day. Sometimes my name wasn't on the list, and if I wanted to scrub in I had to speak humbly and politely." Su Yun said with a laugh.

Zheng Ren sighed inwardly; the gatekeeper might give others a cold shoulder, but she would never do that to Su Yun.

That's just idle talk—don't take it seriously.

"Those surgical chiefs just bring interns up for no reason, sometimes even three or five people at a time—what's left of the operating room's sterile concept?" Director Qiu said, showing a bit of the authority of the anesthesiology department head.

"Exactly, it's completely outrageous." Su Yun chimed in with a laugh.

Director Qiu switched shoes while entering and made a call to have the patient brought in. The timing was just right—8:30.

After changing clothes, Zheng Ren and Director Qiu walked into the operating room. As they walked, Director Qiu introduced the hospital's advanced OR equipment and its development history.

Just like 912, and even like Hai Cheng, this hospital only began rapid development after the 21st century. The operating room is merely a microcosm, situated at the forefront.

"Surgical staff check the names on the surgery notice to enter the OR; non‑participants, including rotating students and interns who wish to observe, must have their names listed on the notice and obtain approval from the department head and head nurse." Director Qiu said: "We enforce strict observation management in our laminar‑flow OR."

"Director Qiu, the way you put it makes me feel nervous inside, as if I'll be chased out any second. Once Professor Sun from Xiehua grabbed me to go up, but as soon as I got there the head nurse saw me and gave me a stern dressing‑down, and I was sent away." Su Yun, wearing three layers of mask, spoke with a muffled voice. (Note 1)

"How could that be." Director Qiu laughed: "But as a leader I can't set the example of breaking rules, so I've canceled the assistant's surgery—you two will have to make do, just helping me out in name."

Oh, no wonder Director Qiu keeps talking about hospital infection—now I see why.

Zheng Ren suddenly recalled that he had once let Lin Ge, the director, sit at the door to keep watch during a surgery.

Stricter management is a good thing—talking in terms of rules for everything and relying less on personal connections. In this regard, southern hospitals do it better; large hospitals are usually strict, but Hai Cheng's control and management are not.

"Boss Zheng, Doctor Su, please don't mind." Director Qiu explained repeatedly: "I'm enough on my own; you don't need to lift a finger."

"It's fine." Zheng Ren smiled: "Following the rules is good; just being allowed to come in and observe the OR is already a lot of trouble for you."

Director Qiu felt a stone lift from his heart. He thought, Boss Zheng said he's hard to get along with, a bit inconsiderate, but looking at him now he seems not bad.

Upon entering the operating room, the patient's gurney had just arrived as well; Zheng Ren habitually slipped the film onto the viewer, checked it twice, then leaned on his chin to look at the images.

After the patient entered the OR, they were given oxygen via a mask, routine ECG and pulse‑ox monitoring were set up, a radial artery catheter was placed for arterial pressure monitoring, and the blood pressure read 145/72 mmHg.

"Director Qiu, I've done a few days of anesthesia before; let me be your assistant." Seeing Boss Zheng resting his chin on the film as if he were about to go up and operate, Su Yun cheerfully said to Director Qiu.

For such a big surgery, one person could manage alone, but having help is still best. Director Qiu made a couple of polite remarks and then agreed.

A surgeon who knows anesthesia probably only knows the basics, but at least they can tell what to do—just running errands is enough, Director Qiu thought.

"For induction I'm giving midazolam 3 mg, etomidate 20 mg, rocuronium bromide 10 mg, and sufentanil 150 mg. Does that dosage look okay to you?" Su Yun asked while handling things efficiently.

Director Qiu paused, then nodded repeatedly.

He saw Su Yun's moves were smooth, hardly different from a professional anesthetist, and found it strange: "Teacher Su, you definitely haven't done this just a day or two."

"Oh, when I did research, I always anesthetized the lab mice myself." Su Yun said, "Not being able to find a top-notch anesthesiologist to work with me on research is like forcing ducks onto shelves."

"......" Qiu Director was speechless. Lab mice, in research, are consumables; anesthetizing lab mice... after the procedure, do they still need nursing care?

"What kind of research do you do?"

"3D-printing a lab mouse's heart for transplantation."

"Wow... Are all the assistants beside Zheng Lao Ban this amazing? Qiu Director started to get serious."

"Did the experiment succeed later?"

"I don't know." Su Yun said while guiding the patient.

"Huh?" Qiu Director asked, puzzled: "How come you don't know?"

"After the Shou Bing, I nursed them for a few days; once the lab mice recovered, I put them in a cage to observe long-term effects. At that time, something happened at the Hospital, and I didn't go for a few days; they starved badly, knocked open the cage, and all escaped."

"......"

"Without evaluation of long-term effects, you can't get into Phase I clinical trials. Then something else happened, and I returned to Hai Cheng." Su Yun said with a hint of regret, "Afterwards I went to 912 with the Boss and kept busy with the Nobel Prize project. I originally wanted to pick it up again after the Nobel Prize was over, but I kept getting busier and really had no time."

"......"

"......"

"Note 1: This is a true story; I was driven away by the Head Nurse, as related by a classmate, gritting my teeth."