CHAPTER 156: REFORM DRIVEN BY ONE PERSON

(Thanks to my good friend ’Stone’s Mood’ for their support, and ’Sky Full of Fragrant Flowers’ for their monthly ticket encouragement)

"Banxia’s hands are really fast; the entire surgery only took 52 minutes," Li Liwei remarked with admiration.

"Ah... it’s all elementary work," Liu Banxia said with a wry smile. "There’s another femoral artery thrombus removal tomorrow. My senior will have to take that one; I don’t think I’m up to it."

"Stop being modest and hurry up and send the patient to the ward to rest. You also need to disinfect thoroughly, then return to the Emergency Department," Li Liwei said.

In his opinion, Liu Banxia was just showing off. With the skill he’d just displayed, even if the orthopedic attendings came, they would perform similarly and might not even be as fast as Liu Banxia.

But one shouldn’t forget that Liu Banxia was a general surgeon. Li Liwei had never seen Liu Banxia perform a tendon suture before; today was the very first time.

But Liu Banxia? He was genuinely telling the truth. His skill in changing dressings and suturing was decent now. However, there was a condition: as he said, "elementary" procedures were fine.

But if it were elevated to the level of vascular and nerve suturing, he could barely manage it at his current level, and the quality couldn’t be guaranteed.

Although the underlying principles throughout any surgical procedure are interconnected, his fundamental physical capabilities weren’t quite there yet.

That was a higher level of skill. A small blood vessel might require more than thirty stitches. Did he think a magnifying glass alone would suffice?

Liu Banxia didn’t hurry to leave; instead, he stayed to help clean up the operating room.

All these surgical instruments needed to be soaked in a chlorine-based disinfectant for thirty minutes, wiped clean, and then sterilized at high temperature twice. Contaminated fabrics also needed to be packed and labeled correctly.

Before leaving the operating room, one had to remove protective items like surgical gowns and gloves, disinfect both hands with an iodine solution, and change into clean shoes.

Liu Banxia wasn’t required to handle the subsequent disinfection of the operating room or the processing of surgical instruments. His help with some of the organizing and packing had already made the surgical nurse very happy.

"Finished already? That was pretty fast," Wei Yuan joked when Liu Banxia returned to the Emergency Department.

"Ah, Brother Wei, don’t laugh; I was just putting on a brave face back there," Liu Banxia replied.

"It’s the same for everyone. Although we don’t get too many patients like that, there are still quite a few in our Binhai City," Wei Yuan said.

"Some are more considerate and will give us a heads-up during their consultation. Many others, however, choose to conceal it. They don’t realize we conduct preoperative tests."

"Brother Wei, what if we encounter an emergency case with no time for tests? Would we only find out during the operation itself?" Liu Banxia queried.

Wei Yuan nodded. "That’s why the salaries for Emergency Department staff are slightly higher. It’s not just because of the high work intensity, but also the increased danger."

Liu Banxia grimaced. Being a medical staff member really isn’t easy.

"Don’t dwell on it. Your patient is still waiting for you in the treatment room," Wei Yuan said.

"Patient? What patient?" Liu Banxia was confused.

"You’re asking me? Go see for yourself. Qi and I admitted a few debridement patients; they’re all being treated in Treatment Room One," Wei Yuan said.

Xu Hui, who was nearby, blinked.

Liu Banxia slapped his forehead. He’d been so preoccupied with the surgery that he’d completely forgotten about Qiaoqiao. Given her temper, she’d probably tear into him the moment she saw him.

Slipping into Treatment Room Two, Liu Banxia saw Qiaoqiao lying on the hospital bed, apparently sleeping quite soundly.

He weighed his options. If I wake Qiaoqiao now, I don’t think I can handle her crankiness from being woken up. Better to let her sleep for now.

He took off his white coat and gently covered Qiaoqiao’s legs with it. He then slightly increased the temperature in Treatment Room Two, turned off the lights, closed the door, and sneaked out.

"Where is she? How come you came out?" Xu Hui leaned in curiously.

Liu Banxia rolled his eyes. "Isn’t your question a bit contradictory? If I didn’t come out, what else would I be doing? That girl has quite an explosive temper; I wouldn’t dare provoke her. She’s sleeping soundly, so let’s just let her sleep."

Xu Hui gave him a thumbs-up. "A true man, through and through."

"Brother Xu, I’ve noticed you’ve become quite mischievous," Liu Banxia said, stretching. "I’m going upstairs to do my rounds. You guys keep an eye on things here."

"Just rest up. I’ve already finished the rounds for you; I can handle this work. When you have time, just give me some tips and pointers on emergency care procedures. It’s also a required course for future emergency doctors," Xu Hui said.

"There’s such a requirement? Set by the hospital?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

Xu Hui nodded. "From now on, the Emergency Department will require doctors to be well-versed in both surgery and internal medicine—broadly knowledgeable yet focused. And if you really think about it, all of this is because of you."

"What the hell? How is it because of me?" Liu Banxia was bewildered.

"Haven’t you heard? Everyone’s talking about it. It’s because of your presence that the reform of our Second Hospital’s Emergency Department was pushed forward," Xu Hui said.

"I’m not joking. It’s not just us discussing this; even some of the department directors are saying so. And for you general surgeons, it means not only understanding more about internal medicine but also being able to handle some minor orthopedic surgeries."

"Think about it. If not you, then who? Your tendon suturing, bonesetting, and fasciotomies for decompression are all quite good, and you’re highly involved in internal medicine consultations."

"Young man, keep up the good work! There’s a lot of honor to be had. It’s just that it will make us work quite hard too; mastering both internal medicine and surgery isn’t that easy. I haven’t touched a scalpel in years. Thinking about it now, I still miss it a bit."

Liu Banxia was stunned. This was the first time he had heard anything like this. He truly hadn’t imagined he possessed such influence—enough to drive reform in a hospital.

This news was too shocking, far more so than the patient he had encountered today.

"Just keep up the good work," Xu Hui said. "Anyway, I think you’re a shoo-in for the future deputy director position in the Emergency Department."

"But you should also be careful. After all, this new approach is giving us internal medicine doctors a lot more work, and it’s not going to be easy. You might even have to give us some good guidance down the line. Adding chicken legs would be fine too, you know."

"My god, has the ’adding chicken legs’ thing really spread this far?" Liu Banxia said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Haha, far beyond your imagination," Wei Yuan chipped in.

Liu Banxia felt rather helpless. He thought he’d steeled himself for such comments back in the operating room, but apparently, not enough.

However, the news from Xu Hui today was indeed uplifting. Thinking about it now, it all seemed very plausible. If the Emergency Department really operated this way in the future, it would make work much smoother.

There would be no need to worry about manpower shortages. In an emergency, even internal medicine doctors could step up. He was truly filled with anticipation for this soon-to-be-established new Emergency Department.