Geumsan Samcheok Hospital Emergency Room.
The emergency room had been a madhouse from morning through the afternoon.
Gim Dohyeon checked the wound of the patient he had just finished treating once more and sighed. After finishing the night shift, he had barely slept four hours before being called back in due to a shortage of staff.
"Am I going to have to pull another all-nighter like this?"
Gim Dohyeon grumbled. But his hands didn't stop, already preparing to disinfect the next patient's wound.
I Chaerin's voice sounded unusually sharp.
"Since you came to Emergency Medicine, you should have been prepared for this, shouldn't you?"
"Yeah, yeah. In front of someone with a body of steel, I was indeed out of line."
Gim Dohyeon's muttered words, spoken in irritation, reached I Chaerin's ears.
I Chaerin spun around, glared at Gim Dohyeon once, then turned away to tend to another patient.
At the nurses' station, the nurses whispered in low voices.
"Weren't those two getting along a little better? Why are they at it again?"
"They're exhausted. What do you expect? Their bodies are just worn out right now."
"I mean, we rotate in shifts of six, but those two have to do everything by themselves..."
"When things get urgent, the Director and the surgeons come too."
"Still, it looks hard managing everything with just two of them."
"Why didn't the Director hire more Emergency Medicine specialists last time? Even just one more would make a huge difference."
"Right? Why did the Director do that?"
The atmosphere in the emergency room had been tense for the past few days.
As word about Geumsan Samcheok Hospital began to spread, patients who would have gone to other regional hospitals started flooding in. With continuous shifts increasing, the two residents had begun reacting sensitively even to trivial matters.
"Dr. Gim, did you check Patient 3's blood pressure?"
I Chaerin asked, looking at the chart.
"Yes, I just checked it. It's stable."
"Really? It looks a little low to me..."
Gim Dohyeon furrowed his brow.
"I checked it myself."
"Ah, yes. Then I suppose that's fine."
I Chaerin answered with a slight sigh. The implication was that she'd let it go because pressing further would just be exhausting.
Gim Dohyeon sensed it too but said nothing more.
It was four in the afternoon, the time of day when fatigue weighed heaviest.
The emergency room phone rang.
"Geumsan Samcheok Hospital Emergency Room."
Go Hayeong's expression hardened at what she heard.
"Please give me the details."
—A crane overturned at a construction site two kilometers from Geumsan Samcheok Hospital. Four workers were buried but have been rescued, and all are severely injured.
"I don't think we can take all of them at our hospital. Can't they be distributed to other hospitals?"
—Gangneung Medical Center has suspended emergency room operations today for a staff workshop, and Donghae Hospital is too far away—we might miss the golden hour. Geumsan Samcheok Hospital is the closest option.
"Understood!"
Go Hayeong shouted after hanging up.
"Four multiple trauma patients from a crane collapse are being transferred! ETA fifteen minutes!"
Everyone in the emergency room looked over as if struck by lightning. Four multiple trauma patients meant a major disaster.
"ETA fifteen minutes, four multiple trauma patients!"
As Go Hayeong shouted once more, the nurses began moving busily.
Gim Dohyeon and I Chaerin stood up simultaneously.
"We'll prepare all four emergency bays."
"We need to start with blood type tests and transfusion prep."
Their eyes met.
"Ah, the Director!"
I Chaerin quickly called Taeho.
"Director, four critical trauma patients from a crane accident are being transferred to the ER immediately."
Taeho's urgent voice came through the phone.
—I'm out on a house call at Samcheok Grand Hotel right now. I'll head straight there. It'll take about fifteen minutes. Start with the basic treatment for now. I'll join you as soon as I arrive.
"Understood, Director!"
At the same time, I Chaerin requested support from surgery.
"Get word to Chief Yu Sihyeog. It's an emergency. Four multiple trauma patients..."
—He's in surgery right now. It'll be at least another hour.
"What about Dr. Choe Seojun?"
—Dr. Choe Seojun is off today.
I Chaerin's face darkened. She hung up and looked at Gim Dohyeon. Both were thinking the same thing.
Fifteen minutes without the Director.
Could the two of them handle it?
"We need to triage by severity first."
I Chaerin said.
"Right. But who's going to take overall command?"
At Gim Dohyeon's question, I Chaerin fell silent for a moment.
"Let's just focus on the patients we're assigned to for now."
"Then I'll take Patients 1 and 2, and Dr. I, you take 3 and 4?"
"No, we have to look at severity. Starting with the worst..."
Their conversation was dragging on.
Nurse Go Hayeong watched them with an anxious expression.
"Patient 1 incoming!"
Along with the paramedic's shout, the first stretcher was wheeled into the emergency room. One side of the male patient in his forties was caved in, and he was gasping for breath in agony.
"BP ninety over sixty, oxygen saturation eighty-five percent! Suspected chest depression!"
The paramedic reported rapidly.
Gim Dohyeon rushed over to check the patient's condition.
"High chance of pneumothorax. Prepare for chest tube insertion!"
But before he even finished speaking, the second patient came in.
"Patient 2, emergency!"
This time it was a woman in her thirties. White bone protruded from her right leg, and a long trail of red bloodstains stretched across the floor.
"Open femur fracture! Estimated blood loss approximately eight hundred cc!"
I Chaerin immediately ran over to examine the patient's leg.
"We need to stop the bleeding first! Pressure bandage!"
"Patient 3!"
The third patient to come in was a man in his sixties. Blood was flowing from his head, and he was nearly unconscious.
"GCS six! Suspected cerebral hemorrhage!"
"Patient four, last one!"
The last patient was a man in his twenties, covered in bruises with a pale face.
"Blood pressure sixty over thirty! In shock!"
In an instant, all four emergency beds were filled. Nurses ran between the patients, connecting monitors and preparing IV fluids.
Gim Dohyeon checked Patient 1's chest again and shouted.
"Patient 1 is the most critical! He could go into respiratory arrest from the pneumothorax!"
"No, Patient 4 is in shock—he's more urgent!"
I Chaerin shouted from Bed 4.
"Hemorrhagic shock can lead to cardiac arrest within minutes!"
"Then what about Patient 2's femoral bleeding?"
Nurse Go Hayeong asked in panic.
"Apply pressure to stop the bleeding for now!"
Gim Dohyeon answered.
"No, we need to contact the operating room first!"
I Chaerin retorted.
The nurses moved between the two doctors, confused about whose orders to follow.
Then the emergency room doors opened again, and the patients' families flooded in.
"Where's my father?!"
"Daughter! Daughter!"
"Honey! Stay awake!"
The families' screams and sobs filled the emergency room.
The man who appeared to be Patient 2's husband caught sight of his blood-soaked wife, his eyes going wide, and grabbed a staff member.
"Doctor! You can save my wife, right?"
"We're doing everything we can, so please wait outside."
Gim Dohyeon tried to calm him, but the families wouldn't back down easily.
The woman who appeared to be Patient 3's daughter grabbed I Chaerin's arm.
"There's so much blood coming from my father's head! Doesn't he need brain surgery?"
"We're preparing the CT now. Please wait just a moment."
The emergency room had become a complete pandemonium.
The patients' groans, the families' weeping, the medical staff's orders, and the alarms of various medical devices all mixed together.
"BP is dropping!"
"Oxygen saturation eighty percent!"
"Pulse is weakening!"
The nurses' reports burst out one after another, but Gim Dohyeon and I Chaerin were still clashing over priorities.
"I told you, we have to start with Patient 1!"
"Patient 4 is more urgent!"
Go Hayeong stood between the two doctors, at a loss, and spoke up.
"Doctors, then which patient should we start with first..."
It was at that exact moment.
In the middle of the busy, chaotic emergency room, a low but powerful voice rang out.
"You save the patient with the blocked airway first!"
Everyone—the families, the nurses, Gim Dohyeon, and I Chaerin—turned in surprise toward where the voice had come from.
A man in his mid-thirties stood at the entrance to the emergency room.
"I'm Jo Hyeongjun, an emergency medicine specialist who will be working at this hospital."
He threw off his jacket and entered without delay. While quickly sanitizing his hands, he assessed each patient's condition in an instant.
"Patient 1, prepare to intubate!"
Jo Hyeongjun headed toward Bed 1, giving clear orders.
"Bed 2, stop the bleeding first! Bed 3, put up an ICP monitor, and Bed 4, run two IV lines!"
His hands were already lifting Patient 1's chin to secure the airway. He read the name tag of the most senior-looking nurse helping beside him.
"Nurse Go Hayeong, get me the intubation set for Bed 1! Sir, secure a central line on Patient 4! And ma'am! Yes. You contact the operating room for Bed 2!"
Jo Hyeongjun's orders were clear and swift.
Everyone's tasks were specifically assigned, and the priorities were obvious.
Gim Dohyeon and I Chaerin shut their mouths simultaneously.
They felt ashamed of themselves for arguing just moments before.
He looked only a couple of years older, yet Jo Hyeongjun was handling everything with speed.
He even appeared composed, as if he'd been through countless disaster sites and mass casualty situations.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
The two answered simultaneously and rushed to their assigned patients.
Then the emergency room doors opened, and Taeho ran in. His shirt was soaked with sweat, and his breathing was ragged. He had clearly run at full speed from Samcheok Grand Hotel.
"The situation..."
Taeho's words trailed off.
It was nothing like the chaos he had expected.
The emergency room was running in an orderly manner, with systematic treatment underway at each bed.
At Bed 1, Jo Hyeongjun was skillfully intubating. Gim Dohyeon was securing a central line on Patient 4. I Chaerin was applying pressure to Patient 2's bleeding site while on the phone with the operating room.
Taeho's gaze met Jo Hyeongjun's.
"Dr. Jo, you've returned."
Taeho approached Jo Hyeongjun and spoke. There was relief in his voice.
"Director, I'm a little late."
Jo Hyeongjun answered as he continued the intubation. His handiwork was unwavering and precise.
"What's the situation?"
"Patient 1, pneumothorax; Patient 2, open fracture with bleeding; Patient 3, suspected cerebral hemorrhage; Patient 4, hemorrhagic shock."
Listening to Jo Hyeongjun's concise report, Taeho examined Patient 1.
"I suspect liver hemorrhage, but let's handle the thoracic cavity first."
As Taeho spoke, Jo Hyeongjun already had a chest tube insertion set in hand.
"Ready."
The two began to operate. A seamless collaboration unfolded, like that of partners who had worked together for years.
"Number ten chest tube."
"Yes."
"Two centimeters lower from here."
"Understood."
When Taeho picked up the scalpel, Jo Hyeongjun prepared the gauze; when Jo Hyeongjun inserted the chest tube, Taeho immediately prepared to suture.
"Connecting."
"Good."
Once the chest tube was connected, the patient's oxygen saturation rose noticeably.
"Ninety-four... ninety-six... ninety-eight percent."
Go Hayeong read the monitor numbers aloud.
From Bed 4, Gim Dohyeon, who had finished securing the central line, watched Taeho and Jo Hyeongjun's teamwork and fell into thought.
'That guy's a real pro. Where did he suddenly appear from?'
He was realizing just how inexperienced he was.
It was the same for I Chaerin, who had finished contacting the operating room from Bed 2.
'Jo Hyeongjun? His teamwork with the Director is flawless. I'm jealous. Will the day ever come when I can work with the Director like that?'
A gaze mixed with envy and curiosity.
Both were curious about Jo Hyeongjun's identity.