Chapter 1056 - 1021: Triage and Guide

At first, everyone was still talking to each other, but after a while, they all fell silent, shocked by the scene they saw. The road ahead undulated like waves, and the guardrails on both sides were twisted into the shape of pretzels.

Not far from the center of the road, a large crack appeared, resembling a twisted scar. Even more alarming was that sand and water were still spewing from the crack.

Wang Wenxiang reminded everyone to carefully detour around. As they passed the crack, the ground suddenly shook; an aftershock struck, and Zhang Li, a nurse from the Infectious Disease Hospital, lost her footing, fell to the ground, and felt dizzy, as if an invisible hand was pushing her toward the crack.

Zhang Li let out a heart-wrenching scream out of fear, and at the critical moment, Xu Chunliang grabbed her arm.

Wang Wenxiang shouted loudly, "Get down, don’t run around."

When experiencing an earthquake outdoors, it is usually advisable to choose an open area nearby, and immediately squat or lie down to avoid falling over, don’t run around, and stay away from crowded places. Wang Wenxiang had already explained these points on the way.

This aftershock made everyone quickly realize that the rescue mission was much more difficult than they had imagined.

After the aftershock passed and confirming that none of the team members were injured, they continued on their way.

Zhang Li looked back at the crack still spewing sand and water, still feeling fearful. If Xu Chunliang hadn’t grabbed her in time just now, she might have fallen into it.

Walking behind her, Xu Chunliang said, "Don’t worry, with me here, none of you will be in any danger."

Qin Guoliang frowned slightly with displeasure. This guy sure knows how to make his presence felt, I’m the captain, okay?

Wang Xiaofeng shouted loudly, "Applause for Captain Xu!"

Everyone cooperatively applauded.

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "Don’t be so exaggerated, I’ll treat everyone to dinner when we complete the task and return to Dongzhou." His words drew another round of applause as most people wouldn’t refuse a friendly treat.

The long-awaited message from Xu Chunliang finally arrived. Su Qing was currently in Fushan Town, reporting on the local damage. She was with her colleagues from the reporting group and was currently in no danger. Xu Chunliang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon after, Su Qing called, but the call got cut off after saying a word due to poor signal. When he called back, it couldn’t connect.

The rain showed no signs of abating. The original three-kilometer distance seemed to stretch in everyone’s minds. They saw many cars parked by the roadside along the way; a cargo truck had overturned in an accident, with the driver trapped inside, and a rescue team was on-site performing the rescue.

Qin Guoliang proactively went over to ask if they needed help; the opposing team said no, as their team was already equipped with emergency personnel, and the driver inside the vehicle was in good condition.

As they continued deeper into the disaster area, they saw an increasing number of disasters and more injured people, almost everyone needing help, but they couldn’t stop. The assembly point had already been constructed as a temporary hospital, where they would undergo reallocation.

The disaster was more severe than they imagined; as they passed through villages, they saw that most of the houses had collapsed. Rescue teams were conducting search and rescue operations on the ruins, and the people rendered homeless by the calamity were filled with despair and sorrow.

Wang Xiaofeng whispered to Xu Chunliang, "Are those the people who perished over there?"

Xu Chunliang looked in the direction he was pointing and saw several bodies wrapped temporarily in canvas lying on the open ground in the southeast.

Qin Guoliang said to them, "Stop chatting and pick up the pace; we’re almost there." In their view, a series of temporary tents had already appeared; that was their rendezvous point, Zhangwo Inn, where the earthquake relief command post was located.

After arriving at the site, they were reorganized according to arrangements and were not dispatched to the front line but were engaged in emergency work at the temporary hospital.

The person in charge of the hospital was Chang Baoqing, Deputy Director of Juzhou Health Bureau. He had already allocated the list in advance. Xu Chunliang was assigned to the guiding group, with specific responsibilities of classifying the injured into light, moderate, and severe categories to assist in speeding up the emergency process.

Since Xu Chunliang was a junior traditional Chinese medicine doctor engaged in administrative work, Chang Baoqing did not believe a junior administrative management staff could be of much use in such a mass of emergency patients. He even thought this young man had come for political gain.

Seeing himself arranged to be a guide, Xu Chunliang immediately found Chang Baoqing, "Director Chang, I’m a traditional Chinese medicine doctor; this guiding work is not suitable for me."

Chang Baoqing’s mood was heavy, his thick eyebrows furrowed, "It doesn’t matter what you are; what matters is what you can do. I don’t care what work you used to do or what position you had; here, you must obey orders and follow commands. Otherwise, go back right away."

Chang Baoqing spoke loudly, as if arguing, and his shouting drew everyone to look over.

Understanding that people aren’t in a good mood given the circumstances, Xu Chunliang didn’t take offense, considering he had good intentions and wanted to contribute more to disaster victims. Arranging him to be a guide seemed like a waste of talent.

Qin Guoliang misunderstood the situation, thinking Xu Chunliang had just arrived and started arguing with the local leaders. He hurried over and angrily reprimanded, "Xu Chunliang, what are you up to? Everyone is busy saving lives, and if you want to stand out, now is not the time."

Xu Chunliang could tolerate Chang Baoqing’s loud voice, but could not endure Qin Guoliang’s unwarranted accusations, which were practically like a smear. He glared coldly at Qin Guoliang, "Who is trying to stand out? Could you get your facts straight before yelling, okay? I think it’s a bit of an underutilization for me to be a guide."

Nurse Zhang Li was also assigned to the guiding team and, seeing Xu Chunliang arguing with the two leaders, quickly shouted, "Captain Xu, there’s a wounded patient coming, come help out." Anyone who worked at the Infectious Disease Hospital had heard something about Xu Chunliang’s temperament, and Zhang Li was looking out for him, to avoid him getting into conflicts just as he arrived.

Chang Baoqing was not targeting Xu Chunliang specifically either. He pursed his lips and said, "Let’s save people first, if there’s anything wrong, we’ll adjust later."

Xu Chunliang turned and left without saying a word. Guiding patients it would be, but it felt like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken, using him for show, standing out is not something you can do just because you wish it, it depends on ability.

Zhang Li helping Xu Chunliang was genuine, and the arrival of the wounded was also real, dozens of patients with varying degrees of injury surrounded the guiding team, waiting for them to assign them to consultation rooms.

Upon seeing this, Xu Chunliang realized the guiding job wasn’t easy either. He spotted a young man being supported under an arm and walked over, "What’s wrong? You don’t seem to have anything wrong, why are you joining the crowd?"

"My... my arm is dislocated... I want to see orthopedics..."

Xu Chunliang gestured to him, "Come over, let me take a look."

The young man came over. All these healthcare workers were dressed alike, he didn’t know Xu Chunliang was a Chinese medicine doctor and thought he had met an orthopedic doctor.

Xu Chunliang took one look and knew it was a right elbow dislocation.

Issues like this, even if triaged to orthopedics, may not be immediately resolved. Elbow dislocation is a very common major joint dislocation in the human body, and it should be repositioned as soon as possible following dislocation to avoid pressure on blood vessels and nerves, causing corresponding complications.

Xu Chunliang placed a chair for the patient to sit down. Typically, the method used would be flexion reduction or flexion-extension movement for repositioning, with two people coordinating. The assistant firmly grips the upper arm for counter traction, while the doctor holds the patient’s wrist in one hand, continuously pulling in the direction of the original deformity, using the elbow joint as a fulcrum to push, press, and lift.

Xu Chunliang didn’t ask for an assistant to help; colleagues were all busy with triage and couldn’t spare the time to assist him.

Xu Chunliang grasped the injured’s upper arm with his left hand and held his wrist with his right hand, pushed and lifted, executing swiftly and powerfully without dragging. A crisp sound was heard, and the patient’s elbow joint was successfully repositioned.

Xu Chunliang took out his specially formulated trauma ointment from his portable emergency kit and applied it to the patient’s elbow joint. This ointment can significantly shorten healing time. He then asked Zhang Li to help with the fixation. The functional position of the elbow joint is about 90° flexion. Zhang Li fixed the elbow joint with a brace and suspended it in front of the chest with a triangular bandage. Usually, fixation can be removed 4-6 weeks later, and the patient can start functional exercises.

But after applying Huichun Hall’s specially formulated trauma ointment, only three days of fixation are necessary for recovery.

The dozens of wounded were all queueing for triage, seeing Xu Chunliang swiftly treat one patient, among them were five with dislocations. Witnessing Xu Chunliang’s miraculous technique, they no longer queued and immediately crowded around him.

Xu Chunliang said, "One by one."

"Doctor, my son’s wrist is dislocated, can you take a look..."

"Doctor, my shoulder is dislocated..."

"Doctor, my back hurts..."

"Doctor, my head hurts..."

As the temporary hospital’s chief coordinator, Chang Baoqing was in charge of overseeing arrangement and inspections. He quickly noticed the commotion at the triage area. According to his arrangement, all the wounded should be triaged and directed to respective consulting rooms immediately, but now the problem was that a dozen or so injured individuals were gathered around the triage area, unwilling to leave.

Chang Baoqing sighed inwardly, the triage efficiency was too low. His first thought was of Xu Chunliang, wondering if that fellow had an issue with the work assigned to him, leading to intentional slack-off. If that were the case, it’s best to get rid of him quickly, lest he slows down the entire team’s efficiency.

Chang Baoqing knew very well that not all sent emergency personnel are elites, and many have the original intention of seeking shortcuts for political promotion or joining the party in the heat of the moment.

Chang Baoqing decided to take a look himself. Upon arriving at the triage area, he saw Xu Chunliang was helping an elderly lady reposition her shoulder joint.

Xu Chunliang was using an external rotation reduction technique, letting the elderly lady sit there, with the patient’s left limb bent and pulled across the chest, supporting the elbow with one hand and gripping the wrist joint with the other, slowly rotating the arm externally. Without seeming to exert much effort, the dislocated joint repositioned automatically. After repositioning, Xu kept the patient’s arm in an internally rotated and adducted state, placed a cotton pad in the armpit, and fixed the affected limb to the chest with a triangular bandage.

Xu Chunliang treated this patient in under three minutes and then called over a middle-aged woman holding a child. That child’s left arm was deformed and swollen, clearly fractured.

The middle-aged woman anxiously shouted, "Doctor, my child’s arm is broken, can you treat it?"