Thirteen naval doctors underwent a consultation surgery across the Pacific and saved their right leg! Late Night Vein | Physician | Pacific
In the waters near Kiribati Tarawa Island, a Pacific island country, on the late night of July 13th local time, Lin Wenbo, a orthopedic doctor from the offshore hospital diagnosis and treatment team who was accompanying the hospital ship "Harmony Mission-2023", stayed up all night.
At night, the hospital ship was not calm. There are still many medical personnel who are still awake, waiting for the Chinese fisherman Shang, who is about to be transported to the ship for treatment.
A few days ago, Shang followed a fishing boat to fish in the waters near Kiribati. While working on the boat, he accidentally tripped over a rope, causing the boat to overturn and resulting in an open fracture of his right leg, severe damage to surrounding tissues, and concurrent infection. There is a risk of amputation.
Coordinated by the Chinese Embassy in Kiribati, the hospital ship and fishing boat headed towards each other to carry out life rescue - traveling at high speed for 1000 kilometers within 28 hours.
At around 2:30 am on the 14th, Lin Wenbo, carrying a military doctor's backpack containing debridement and painkillers, prepared for transportation in front of the starboard side door on deck 02.
Five minutes later, the fishing boat approached the hospital boat, and two safety personnel wearing seat belts transported Shang onto the boat through a small boat and a soft ladder. Lin Wenbo immediately stepped forward and held the patient's foot to feel the temperature. The smooth pulsation of the dorsal foot artery indicated normal blood supply to the limbs, which made him feel relieved.
Subsequently, Shang was sent to the 01 deck injury classification area for detailed inspection. The leader of the receiving and guiding medical team, Bai Yuan, the head nurse Yu Hehua, and the nurse Hu Juan have already been waiting here.
After establishing venous channels, monitoring vital signs, inquiring about the injury process, and conducting blood tests, a series of examinations were completed, and underlying diseases that affect surgery and anesthesia were eliminated one by one.
After identifying various indicators, Shang was transported to the X-ray room. He, weighing 190 pounds, was not easily transferred between the hospital bed and examination bed. Seeing his uneasy gaze, Yu Hehua lowered her head and comforted, "It will hurt a little bit later, don't worry."
At 5am, Beijing time at 1am, in the 02 deck conference room, 6 experts from the Naval Medical University and 7 experts from the Maritime Hospital in Shanghai conducted a remote video consultation on Shang's condition, jointly discussing and analyzing the situation of the injured. A surgical plan has been developed for Shang's right lower limb open fracture of the distal tibia and fibula, seawater immersion injury with infection.
The illness is the military situation, and the operating room is the battlefield.
At 6 a.m. in the operating room, the nurse was in position. Liu Xiao, Qin Jing, and Zhou Jiesong began preoperative preparation. The disinfection of the operating room is complete, and the surgical instruments are ready... Lay out the surgical sheet and take the patient to the operating bed.
The anesthesiologist is in place. Chen Qianbo brought a ship specific intravenous anesthesia robot to the operating room. The robot is the size of a suitcase and is an automatic intravenous general anesthesia device used for maritime surgery on ships. It can assist anesthesiologists in completing the intravenous anesthesia and pain relief needs of wounded patients, automatically detecting the depth of anesthesia in patients and adding anesthesia drugs.
The surgeon is in position. Chief surgeon Lin Wenbo, deputy chief orthopedic physician Chen Yu, and attending orthopedic physician Tong Wenwen put on their surgical gowns and came to the operating table.
General anesthesia, debridement, suturing, Kirschner wire internal fixation, plaster external fixation... At 11am, the surgery was successfully completed with the cooperation of medical staff.
Upon waking up, Shang saw his properly handled right leg and held Lin Wenbo's hand, saying gratefully, "Thank you to the Chinese military doctor, thank you to the Chinese navy!"
As Chang Le, the director of the Maritime Hospital, said, "Providing emergency medical assistance to overseas Chinese compatriots is the responsibility and duty of the People's Navy. This surgery is the first surgery completed in this mission and a comprehensive test of our medical service capabilities. We have confidence and the ability to make the world-renowned 'golden signboard' of the 'Ark of Peace' shine even more."
