When Major Kim Cheolsoo first entered the emergency room today, Captain Bang Noeul thought to herself.
An overly eager rookie military doctor only makes everyone more exhausted.
So she deliberately asserted her authority early on to prevent him from causing any trouble in the ER.
Even though he was her senior officer, he didn’t even salute properly or greet her.
In this emergency room, she considered herself the senior.
By doing so, she believed she could maintain control over Major Kim Cheolsoo in case a patient came in unexpectedly.
But just as the paramedics were about to leave, Kim Cheolsoo appeared wearing a white coat, gripping the stretcher with one hand and shouted,
“I will perform this surgery!”
“… Excuse me? What did you say? What surgery are you talking about?”
Captain Bang interrupted, sounding confrontational. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t quite grasp what he had said earlier.
She had heard rumors about the military doctor Kim Cheolsoo causing disturbances here and there.
The absurd rumor that a general surgeon was seeing orthopedic patients. Still, she thought, well, that might be possible since he wasn’t performing surgeries.
‘But to say he’ll perform such a difficult trauma surgery? Is this guy really crazy? How does a general surgeon expect to do trauma surgery?’
Captain Bang assumed she must have misheard. It was only logical. A general surgeon performing trauma surgery was impossible.
But the doctor wearing a white coat over his uniform spoke confidently to her.
“I said I will do this surgery. I remember all the techniques of resuscitative thoracotomy in trauma surgery. I studied the procedure manuals thoroughly during medical school.”
“Procedure manuals? Are you seriously losing your mind? I don’t know when you looked at those books, but even if you remember all the steps, how do you expect to apply that in real life? Don’t be reckless and just send the patient away.”
“If we send her back now, she will die. You know there isn’t much time left. This patient won’t survive the 30-minute trip to Gwangju. Please, medics! Let her inside!”
The paramedics looked bewildered at the unexpected situation. At first, they were pleased, but after hearing the situation, it seemed utterly absurd.
One medic hesitated and asked,
“May I ask why a non-trauma surgeon insists on doing this surgery? We’re in a hurry too, but are you sure it’s okay to just leave her here? You’re really not a trauma surgeon, right?”
“I am a general surgeon. I also sometimes see orthopedic cases.”
“Then how…? Reviving a cardiac arrest patient is an extremely difficult trauma surgery. You mean to do it alone?”
Startled, the medic was met with Kim Cheolsoo’s cold, sharp gaze as he replied,
“Isn’t this a critical moment? Instead of debating specialties, move the stretcher. We have to save the patient, no matter what!”
Hearing that, the paramedics snapped to attention. If they had taken the patient away just now, she would have died for sure. But meeting a doctor willing to do something gave them a glimmer of hope. Maybe the patient could survive.
“All right, Doctor! Thank you!! Really, thank you!!”
The paramedics immediately wheeled the stretcher inside the emergency room.
Then Captain Bang, the nursing officer, glared at Kim Cheolsoo in disbelief.
“If something goes wrong, who takes responsibility? This is a grave violation that could lead to your dismissal! What are you doing without consulting me? Don’t you realize that once the patient enters the hospital, we’re all responsible?”
“Nursing officer, saving the patient comes first. I’ll take responsibility. Come inside and help me. You’re the trauma nursing officer, aren’t you?”
She wore a displeased expression, but given the circumstances, she had no choice.
Sighing, she followed Kim Cheolsoo into the ER.
The traffic accident patient was a woman in her twenties. Her arms and legs weren’t broken.
Externally, she didn’t appear seriously injured. But once the chest was opened, there would surely be a problem.
Inside the emergency room, Kim Cheolsoo quickly climbed onto the patient, pressing on her chest and performing artificial respiration while shouting,
“Bring the defibrillator! Hurry!!! Time is critical! Quickly!!”
Captain Bang quickly fetched the defibrillator.
Kim Cheolsoo, sweating profusely, performed CPR, but as no change was observed in the patient’s condition yet, he shouted,
“Charge the defibrillator to 150 joules!”
“150 joules charged.”
“Everyone step back. Shock!”
Thud!
“No effect. Charge 250 joules!”
“250 joules charged.”
“Everyone step back. Shock!”
Thud!!!
The patient’s body jerked twice from the strong electric shock, but the heart did not restart.
If left like this, she would enter complete cardiac arrest.
“Flatline…!!!”
“The heart has completely stopped! The electrocardiogram shows a flat line! What do we do now? What do we do…! Ah!”
The motionless ECG graph confirmed the patient’s heart had fully stopped.
The paramedics looked away in despair, and Captain Bang nervously fretted over the responsibility she might have to bear.
“Phew…”
Yet, despite the flood of cold sweat on his forehead, Kim Cheolsoo remained calm.
Though it was his first trauma surgery, his extensive experience in general surgery faced many difficult situations.
He glared fiercely at the nursing officer and shouted,
“Calm down! The patient isn’t dead yet! Prepare for surgery immediately! Time is critical!”
“Yes! Understood!”
With every minute in cardiac arrest, the patient’s survival chance drops by 10 percent. Simply put, after 10 minutes, they’re considered clinically dead.
Ten minutes…! That’s such a short window. Even for skilled trauma surgeons, opening the chest and saving the patient in that time is extremely difficult.
Sweating all over, Kim Cheolsoo shouted desperately,
“Call all surgical staff in the hospital! Stop their shifts and bring them immediately to the OR!”
*****
Within four minutes, surgical staff on duty across various wards were gathered and led into the operating room.
Under Captain Bang’s orders, they sterilized, controlled bleeding, and administered anesthesia in preparation.
Finally, Kim Cheolsoo gripped the scalpel with a sharp gaze.
Though unfamiliar with trauma surgery, he was extremely tense. But he had no choice.
He was the only doctor in this hospital capable of operating.
The patient’s life was in his hands. Six minutes remained… Too little time. After six minutes, the patient’s death was guaranteed.
Nervous about his first resuscitative thoracotomy, Kim Cheolsoo noticed his left hand trembling as he held the scalpel.
An old nerve injury from eighteen years ago throbbed sharply, so he switched the scalpel to his right hand.
“Phew… Let’s go.”
Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he abducted the patient’s left arm at a 90-degree angle.
Then, with the scalpel, he made a left anterolateral incision, cutting horizontally under the woman’s breast.
The approach he used wasn’t the frontal sternotomy with a mechanical saw but a left-sided thoracotomy. Simply put, he incised the upper side of the patient’s ribcage to access the heart.
He cut between the 4th and 5th intercostal spaces at the inframammary fold.
Through the opened side skin, the inflated lung was visible.
Avoiding the lower lung, Kim Cheolsoo carefully opened the thoracic cavity with scissors and used a surgical retractor to spread the ribs for a clear view.
Finally, the inside of the body was visible.
Once he sutured the heart wound, he began open-chest cardiac massage.
Kim Cheolsoo carefully grasped the heart with both hands and compressed it.
He pressed from the apex toward the base of the heart.
Everyone watched Kim Cheolsoo’s hands with tense expressions.
Having successfully opened the chest and started cardiac massage, everything now depended on him.
Though it was his first time massaging a heart, he performed it with the skill of someone experienced.
But time was running out.
He glanced at the clock: 25 seconds left… 24… 23…
Time mercilessly slipped away.
With so little time remaining, Kim Cheolsoo gave his all. The patient’s life and death depended on this cardiac massage.
‘Please…! Please come back! You still have so many days ahead! Wake up!’
He prayed desperately. The young woman had so much life left to live. He fervently wished for her recovery.
“… She’s already dead. Let’s stop, Major. You look exhausted.”
“No. There’s still time. We have until 10 minutes!!”
“But nearly all 10 minutes have passed. Everyone here knows how hard you’ve worked. It’s okay to stop now. Sniff…”
The cold Captain Bang turned her gaze away, wiping her eyes.
Though the surgery had been carried out diligently until the end, the patient’s death brought overwhelming loss.
Other staff sniffled and reddened their eyes in sadness.
Every time a patient died, no medical staff could remain indifferent.
It hurt every single time.
That was why they found Kim Cheolsoo’s relentless cardiac massage pitiful.
It seemed as if he couldn’t accept the patient’s demise.
But even in this situation, Kim Cheolsoo didn’t stop the massage.
Sweat drenched his body, yet he persevered until the very end.
“No! There’s still time!! I won’t give up!! I don’t quit until the patient quits!!! Wake up! Please wake up!!! You have so many days to live! Get up!!!”
10 seconds… 9… 6… 3… 2!
At the moment everyone but Kim Cheolsoo had given up, a miracle happened.
Thump…! Thump….!!! Thump!!!!
The heart that had stopped beating started to beat again.
“Ah! The ECG is back! The flatline graph has started moving again!!!”
“She’s alive!! She’s alive!! Incredible, Major! You saved her!!! Amazing!”
“This is a miracle! A miracle!!! How did you save her? Impossible!!!”
The patient’s previously stopped heart was now beating normally.
A broad smile of joy spread across Kim Cheolsoo’s face.
Though visibly exhausted, he masked it and said,
“The patient is alive! Now, after properly suturing the bleeding site we temporarily clamped with the vascular forceps, I’ll close the side incision! Everyone, stay focused until the end!”
“Yes, Major!”
The surgical staff, who had initially clashed and failed to work in sync, now shouted in unison.
They had thought, ‘What kind of crazy general surgeon is this?’ but their thoughts completely changed.
They had witnessed near-miraculous surgical skills and an unwavering will to save the patient.
Captain Bang, inwardly admiring, saw Kim Cheolsoo in a completely different light.
‘How can a general surgeon perform trauma surgery this perfectly? This is truly amazing. In fact, it was faster and more skillful than our trauma department chief’s. And his refusal to give up on the patient until the very end is something to learn from.’
The nursing officer silently recalled someone as she followed Kim Cheolsoo’s instructions and focused on the surgery until the very end.
Finally, after completely suturing the side incision, the surgery was over.
She smiled brightly and said to the exhausted but successful surgeon,
“Major, you really worked hard! I’ve never seen a surgery like this before. I thought it was insane to even start such an operation, but you actually saved a woman! That’s amazing! I respect you!!”
*****
After finishing all the surgeries, Kim Cheolsoo watched the morning sun rise as he left work.
It was his first time on night duty at a military hospital, and unexpectedly, it was no ordinary task.
Private Shin had said nothing would happen, but that was far from the truth.
He stepped out of the guard post into the morning sunlight, his body exhausted.
Having been a military doctor for a long time, it seemed like he now had more work than when he was a soldier.
Even as a soldier, standing night duty or guard duty was tough…
Thinking this, he slowly walked along the rural road toward home.
At that moment, the village chief, harvesting tomatoes in a field, called out.
“Hey! Kim Cheolsoo! How was your night duty?”
“Good, sir. I saved a life today. Haha!”
“Of course, our village’s great doctor!! Great doctor!!! Good job! What kind of patient was it?”
“A female traffic accident victim. Looks like the accident happened nearby at dawn.”
“Ah, you really worked hard. Then you probably didn’t get breakfast, huh?”
“Yes. I’ll eat and sleep when I get home.”
“Don’t be like that, come here and have a snack. I didn’t eat breakfast either, so I brought some rice balls. Have some tomatoes too.”
“Really? Thank you, sir.”
Sitting together under a tree’s shade, they admired the beautiful summer rural morning.
The salty rice balls revived Kim Cheolsoo’s tired body and lifted him up from the brink of collapse.
The ripe red tomatoes were sweet without question. The refreshing juice spread in his mouth, brightening his mood.
“You really did well. It must have been tough saving that patient… Being a doctor is truly amazing. To bring back someone who was at death’s door, you’re better than the grim reaper.”
Mentally exhausted, the village chief’s encouragement was a great comfort.
Kim Cheolsoo smiled faintly without a word.
A dog, running from afar, happily jumped into his arms, barking.
It seemed to think he was its owner since he had fed it for several days.
“Woof!! Woof!!!”
“Ha ha, are you welcoming me home? Are your legs okay?”
Feeling like he had gained a new family member, Kim Cheolsoo finally wore a bright smile.
It had been a truly busy day but one filled with great meaning.
Right there, he fell asleep from exhaustion.
“Zzz… Mmnh, village chief, I want samgyeopsal again… please grill it… Zzz…”