"Do you know how to handle a patient's death?"
Doctor Hu asked Zhou Can.
"I've never dealt with it before!"
Zhou Can shook his head.
"When a patient dies, promptly inform the family members of the patient's death. Immediately cease all of the patient's standing orders, switch the computer to a zero bed fee, complete the discharge or death registration, and report to the head of the department in a timely manner."
Doctor Hu taught him about the general process.
The Intensive Care Medicine Department almost sees the unfortunate passing of patients daily, and this is a mandatory piece of knowledge for every doctor in the department.
At this moment, the family members, guided by the nurse, had already changed into protective clothing and come in.
"My husband... sob sob..."
A woman around thirty-five or thirty-six years old, not yet at the bedside, began to wail pitifully.
Many places have the local custom of ritual lamentation.
It could be interpreted as crying for others to hear, or to prove to others the intensity of her grief.
Besides this woman, there was also an older woman who bore a resemblance to the patient. She wept as she rested her head on the bed, caressing the patient's face with her hands.
"Oh son, how could you be so foolish, so heartless? With you gone, how am I to go on living!"
The old woman's voice was filled with sorrow, and it was very distressing to hear.
The sight of an elderly mother sending off her child is an absolute tragedy.
The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law were wailing around the bedside. Especially the patient's wife, who cried with gusto; not many tears were seen, but her wails were strong.
Although it was unclear what had happened to this family that led to the man's suicide by drinking pesticide,
it was certain that his family bore some responsibility.
Had there been proper guidance, it might not have come to this.
"Please, both of you, try to control your emotions and take this time to say your final goodbyes to the patient! He is not going to make it,"
Doctor Hu saw that the family members kept on crying, and he felt compelled to advise them.
The breaths of the man lying on the hospital bed were exceedingly weak, his eyes struggled to open slightly, looking at his wife and family in front of the bed.
Tears slid from the corners of the patient's eyes.
He was calling out his wife's pet name.
"Here, I'm here!" The woman hurriedly grasped his hand.
Zhou Can couldn't help feeling, perhaps mistakenly, that this woman was not as grief-stricken by her husband's death as one would expect.
Regardless, it was another family's issue, and he definitely would not intrude.
Nor would he intervene in anything.
"Take... care of my mother..." the man exerted all his strength to squeeze out these few words, his eyes filled with pleading as he looked at his wife.
"I will, you can go in peace!" The woman nodded her head as she sobbed, agreeing with him.
The man's mother was already inconsolable, snot and tears mingling together.
Seeing his wife's promise, the man's will to live dissolved completely.
His breathing stopped.
Shortly after, his blood pressure disappeared, brain waves slowly ceased, and his heartbeat stopped.
The monitors started to emit multiple alarm sounds.
The patient had closed his eyes forever.
It must be mentioned, after a patient's death, some brain-dead patients' hearts may not immediately stop.
However, medically speaking, the absence of a heartbeat is not required to confirm death.
Brain death, dilated pupils, and an absence of breathing are sufficient to define medical death.
The heart's beating might continue for some time after the patient's death, potentially ranging from half an hour to several hours.
Zhou Can stood by the bedside, witnessing the death of the patient, without as much fear as initially.
Perhaps he had already mentally accepted this event.
He had prepared himself psychologically.
So, regarding the patient's death, his reaction was relatively calm.
The patient's mother fainted beside the bed. It was a true heartbreak, unbearable pain.
The patient's wife was also weeping bitterly.
Doctor Hu and the nurse proceeded with the protocol, handling the situation step by step.
Doctor Hu removed the patient's ventilator, declaring clinical death.
Then he asked the family members to settle the hospital bills.
This is very important.
Generally, if the costs are not settled, the hospital does not allow the family to take the body out of the hospital.
Tu Ya has a dedicated morgue, also known as a mortuary.
The body can be kept there for up to twenty-four hours.
Some family members may abandon the body.
This is a rare occurrence, but there are exceptionally rare cases involving eccentric family members.
At that point, the hospital follows regulations and reports the situation. There will be a designated department to handle it.
During the time when the hospital fees remain unpaid, the personnel will first take the body to the mortuary.
Most family members respect the deceased and therefore do not engage in abandonment.
Soon, personnel specialized in transporting bodies arrived. The nurses had already disconnected all the devices and tubes from the patient, taken care of the body, and performed the final arrangements.
The body was then taken away.
The family members had long been asked to leave the ICU.
After Doctor Hu completed the death record, he temporarily called another doctor to look after the other two beds for which he was responsible.
Then he took Zhou Can to the duty room, where he taught Zhou Can how to use the computer to cancel the patient's standing orders and set the bed fee to zero.
This was a detail that had to be dealt with promptly.
Otherwise, it would easily lead to medical disputes.
After the patient's death, the family members are already in a difficult emotional state.
If, during the process of discharge, it is found that the deceased was still being medicated and charged for the bed, a dispute would likely arise.
In such cases, the hospital could be at a disadvantage.
After learning the process for handling a patient's death, Zhou Can followed Doctor Hu back to the ward to continue working.
The emptied bed number six, after being cleaned, would soon welcome the next critically ill patient.