CHAPTER 348: 348 MEDICAL ACCIDENTS?

Liu Banxia’s nearly three months of training had not been wasted.

He wasn’t sure if it was fate’s way of playing tricks. His level upgrade had seemed to take forever when he was looking forward to it, but now? After this period of surgical training, he had leveled up to Level 47 in one go.

Of course, many related skills had also improved. His fastest-improving skill was Diagnostics, which had reached 73,452 points, while Suturing and Dressing Changes were at 45,766 and 42,980 points, respectively.

These three foundational skills were what he valued most, as they were the basis for his medical practice. He had initially thought that increasing his Diagnostics skill points would only enable him to diagnose diseases faster.

However, that wasn’t entirely the case. Because his understanding of diseases had deepened, he could also operate more skillfully. Plus, he had indeed performed many surgeries during this period.

The Emergency Center had become very busy. Due to its operations over this period and the increased number of patients assigned by the dispatch center, the current bed vacancy rate in the Emergency Center was less than 7%.

Looking around, Liu Banxia was quite pleased. The patient satisfaction rate at the Emergency Center was quite high. At the very least, this wouldn’t affect everyone’s bonus.

"Sister Li, there are more flu patients lately. Tell everyone to be careful. We can’t afford anyone getting sick right now when all hands are needed," Liu Banxia said.

Zhou Li nodded. "Two nurses have caught a cold. I told them to rest at home for a few days. We’ve also increased the frequency of disinfection in the lobby. Face masks must be worn at all times."

"We’ll have to tough it out. Around this time of year, we always have the highest number of flu and common cold cases. But when the weather truly cools down, things usually calm down," Liu Banxia said with a wry smile.

"You need to be more considerate too. Young women like romantic gestures. It’s okay if you don’t celebrate holidays, but what about Qiaoqiao? You have to think of her. Even if you can’t go back, you should still buy her a present," Zhou Li reminded him.

"Sister Li, I don’t know what to buy her. She has plenty of food, clothes, and things to play with at home. Even Tang Dou has a lot of unopened toys just lying around," Liu Banxia replied.

"Nonsense. What Qiaoqiao has is her business, but what you buy for her shows your affection," Zhou Li said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Honestly, I don’t know what Qiaoqiao sees in you. You have no romance in you, and you’re never around. Even when Old Wang was courting me back then, the flowers and snacks never stopped."

"Alright, I’ll buy flowers then. Otherwise, I really don’t know what to get. You wouldn’t believe it, she even offered to buy me a car last time, saying it would be much cheaper if she bought it from Old Qiu," Liu Banxia said with a hint of helplessness.

This was the burden of having a rich girlfriend, he supposed. She genuinely didn’t treat money as a big deal. And Qiaoqiao never thought twice when spending money on him.

To be honest, if Liu Banxia were to think shamelessly, being supported like this was quite pleasant. However, even if he didn’t mind, they weren’t properly married yet, so he had to control Qiaoqiao’s urge to shop.

Zhou Li really didn’t know what to say. Qiaoqiao often came by, and every time she visited, she would bring a pile of snacks and fruits.

And nowadays, Qiaoqiao was responsible for everything Liu Banxia wore, from head to toe. Qiaoqiao didn’t approve of the clothes Liu Banxia used to buy, and this was something he had to obey unconditionally.

"Dr. Liu, come quickly! This patient on an IV drip isn’t feeling well," Nurse Zhou Qian shouted just then.

Without a second thought, Liu Banxia instinctively ran towards Zhou Qian.

"What’s wrong?" Liu Banxia asked as he reached the patient’s bedside.

"He was getting his IV drip, and he said he felt unwell. Now he’s cold and says he can’t see clearly," Zhou Qian said, on the verge of tears.

"Don’t panic. Your handling of it was very good," Liu Banxia comforted her, then carefully examined the patient.

The patient’s face was pale, his body was trembling, and he was clutching his chest.

"Sister Li, intramuscular injections of epinephrine, promethazine, and dexamethasone. Start oxygen. This could be an adverse drug reaction," Liu Banxia said.

"Zhou Qian, get the ECG monitor and call the attending doctor for this patient. Don’t panic. The allergic reaction isn’t severe, and it was caught very quickly."

Zhou Qian nodded and went to get the ECG monitor.

The commotion they were making was not small. These patients were here receiving IV treatment and could leave afterward. They were only kept here because the infusion hall upstairs was already full due to the large number of flu patients.

Once the ECG monitor was connected, his blood pressure read 70/50 mmHg, and his heart rate was 110 bpm. Fortunately, because oxygen was administered, his blood oxygen saturation was slowly rising and had now reached 92%.

Liu Banxia also felt a surge of anxiety. Whether the resuscitation would be successful depended on the patient’s subsequent reaction.

"Dr. Liu, what happened? This is my patient," Xu Hui said as he hurried over.

"It seems to be an adverse drug reaction. Let’s stabilize him first, then we’ll review the case," Liu Banxia said, patting him on the shoulder.

Xu Hui’s brow furrowed. Although no one had said it, this could very well be a medical incident. He picked up the medical record chart from the bedside.

"During the initial physical exam, his blood pressure was 120/80 mmHg, and his temperature was 39 degrees Celsius. He reported a fever and cough for four days. Auscultation revealed moist rales in the lower left lung. I diagnosed it as left lower lobe pneumonia and prescribed levofloxacin, 0.3g in 100ml," Xu Hui stated.

"I also glanced at the IV bag just now; under normal circumstances, it should have been fine. Zhou Qian reacted quickly and removed the IV needle as soon as she noticed something was wrong," Liu Banxia said.

"Fortunately, his color has improved a bit, his oxygen saturation is still rising, and his blood pressure is also recovering. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely figure out what went wrong."

"Sister Li, get a sealed bag. We need to preserve the medication and the IV tubing for..."

He trailed off, unable to finish, because he had just realized why the patient was having such a severe adverse reaction.

He saw that the roller clamp on the IV tubing was currently in the upper section, which meant the infusion was being administered to the patient too rapidly.

Although levofloxacin is a commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotic, its infusion rate must not be too fast. For such a small bag, the infusion time needs to be at least over an hour to be within the safe range.

More than half of the medication had already been infused. It was precisely because the roller clamp hadn’t been adjusted correctly that this accident occurred. There was no longer any need for suspicion; this was a medical incident.

Liu Banxia didn’t need to say anything more; everyone present understood what had happened. Zhou Qian’s face turned white as a sheet. She was responsible for these few patients, making her the primary person accountable.

"Sister Li, take Zhou Qian to the break room first. Leave this to me," Liu Banxia said gravely.

Zhou Li nodded, naturally understanding the gravity of the situation.

The Emergency Center was currently thriving. If a medical incident occurred at this juncture, it would be no small matter. It wouldn’t just affect Zhou Qian, but the entire Emergency Center.

"Brother Hui, you should head back too. I’ll handle things here," Liu Banxia said, looking at Xu Hui again.

Xu Hui glanced at him. "Perhaps I should handle the communication. After all, I was the one who admitted him."

Liu Banxia patted his shoulder. "Don’t worry, this is what I do."

Xu Hui gave him a grateful look and returned to his consultation room. However, he also informed the triage desk that he wouldn’t be seeing patients for now; he needed some time to compose himself.

Once the patient recovered, this incident would undoubtedly cause a stir, and Liu Banxia, being in charge of handling it, would be the first target of the patient’s blame. And in this matter, the hospital was indeed at fault.

After waiting for more than twenty minutes, the patient finally came around. He was still a bit weak but could now breathe normally without oxygen.

"What just happened? How did I suddenly become like that?" the patient asked, then took several deep breaths.

"You experienced an adverse drug reaction just now. We are still investigating the exact cause. On behalf of the medical staff of the Emergency Center, I apologize to you," Liu Banxia said.

"And I can make the decision to admit you to a private room in our Emergency Center. Until the matter is clarified, all your expenses will be covered by our hospital."

He had no choice; the most important thing now was to appease the patient’s emotions. People these days aren’t fools. Trying to deceive the patient by saying it was a reaction to his illness would be ridiculous.

It was better to be upfront than to try and fool him.

Seek the patient’s understanding, and then provide compensation. If the patient made a scene here and involved their family, things would become very difficult to resolve.

Even now, it had attracted the attention of surrounding patients, some of whom were pointing their phones in this direction.

"Please go up first. I will contact the relevant personnel from our hospital to come and help manage this," Liu Banxia said softly.

"Don’t try to fool me. I know you gave me several injections just now," the patient said, looking at him.

"Please rest assured. If it is our fault, we will not shirk our responsibility," Liu Banxia said earnestly.

Only then did the patient nod and lie back down on the hospital bed.

This allowed Liu Banxia to breathe a sigh of relief. This matter should have a satisfactory resolution. He gestured to the interns beside him, signaling them to push the patient upstairs.

"Banxia, what’s the situation?" Zhou Li asked anxiously as soon as Liu Banxia entered the break room.

"Dr. Liu, I really did adjust the drip rate lower after starting the infusion for the patient. I know these things," Zhou Qian said, crying.

"Don’t worry for now. There must be another reason for this. I came to check on you. We’ll retrieve the surveillance footage later," Liu Banxia comforted her.

He believed Zhou Qian. This was a basic requirement for nurses. Moreover, Zhou Qian’s professional skills were highly regarded among the nurses; otherwise, she wouldn’t be here helping manage the beds.

However, although the cause couldn’t be determined yet, the incident had indeed occurred. What Liu Banxia worried about most was if the patient had adjusted it himself; that would be very difficult to handle.