Chapter 149: 【149】Again to the teacher’s surprise
Huang Zhilei and Doctor Jiang consulted with Doctor Lin. They suggested that perhaps Xie Wanying could stay with them tonight, taking the opportunity to go out with the ambulance and observe emergency medical responses in the field.
Huang Zhilei was irritated with himself for being the head of the inpatient department; otherwise, he would have been able to personally take his junior sister out on the ambulance.
Being the head of the inpatient department meant dealing with a myriad of tasks, unable to follow through the entire rescue process of patients. It was not particularly suitable for the junior sister, who had just stepped into clinical practice, to learn from him.
For the sake of the junior sister, Huang Zhilei had to let go for now.
Xie Wanying went first with Doctor Lin to perform an electrocardiogram on a patient.
“You know how to read an electrocardiogram, but do you know how to perform one?” Doctor Lin asked her.
Zhao Zhaowei came over to watch because Doctor Kim had told him he could learn alongside his classmate.
Xie Wanying said, “Teacher Lin, may I give it a try?”
“Sure, try it.” Having witnessed her performance the night before, Doctor Lin allowed her to attempt it.
The cold weather was challenging for patients who needed to expose certain areas of skin for the electrocardiogram, especially since most patients suspected of cardiac issues had high blood pressure, which could rise even higher as blood vessels contracted when they got cold.
Pushing the electrocardiogram machine next to the patient, Xie Wanying first drew the curtain to ensure the patient’s privacy.
Female doctors are generally gentler and more meticulous, Doctor Lin thought to himself.
Lying on the hospital bed was a man in his seventies, who wore three sweaters because of his fear of the cold as an elderly person. Even with heating in the room, the old man shivered as the nurse helped uncover his clothes.
Seeing this, Xie Wanying made a Decisive Moment decision to pull the blanket up to the old man’s belly, since the chest and abdomen unrelated to the electrocardiogram needed to be exposed.
Her next movements had to be even faster and more precise. She took a hemostat, clamped a cotton ball soaked in alcohol from the jar, and wiped it across several spots on the patient’s body where the electrodes for the machine would be connected.
The electrode clips clicked into place, four of them, each attached to one of the patient’s limbs.
Six suction cups for the chest leads, swiftly attached in a row across the patient’s chest, creating a curve.
Beep, she pressed the electrocardiogram machine’s start button.
Swish, the electrocardiogram chart printed out.
This was the point to turn off the machine, and she quickly removed the suction cups and electrode clips.
Yanking the blanket, she covered the patient again, then reached under to pull down his sweaters.
Xie Wanying executed these actions seamlessly.
“She’s really fast,” blurted out an emergency nurse, unable to keep her thought to herself.
It was not only quick but also considerate of the patient.
Look at the old man, completely taken aback. As a patient with a long history of angina, he had undergone countless electrocardiograms, but he could not recall any instance when a doctor had completed the exam so quickly, to the point where he didn’t even have time to shiver again.
Both the emergency nurse and the old man looked towards Doctor Lin.
So fast? But was it accurate?
Accurate, indeed accurate. This was something Doctor Lin could tell from experience. What surprised him wasn’t the speed; after all, he himself could achieve that speed if he wished. The real shock was that Xie Wanying was just an intern. How could she achieve such proficiency with electrocardiograms without practicing for at least two or three years?
This young woman had surprised him once again, and her potential in medicine might be greater than he had imagined.
“Teacher Lin, please take a look,” Xie Wanying handed the completed ECG chart to Doctor Lin for review.
After looking over it, Doctor Lin first asked her, “What do you think?”