"It's arrhythmia. Stabilize it first."
"Stabilizer?"
When Gim Hyeokgwon said something absurd at a time like this, Taesu snapped and shouted.
"Antiarrhythmic."
"Say it so I can understand."
"antiarrhythmic."
"Okay, okay. I got it."
Rattle.
Startled, Gim Hyeokgwon reacted nervously and prepared the syringe.
Meanwhile, Taesu had already moved into action.
Whoosh.
He turned Private Anthony and the patient halfway around.
Since contamination had already been accounted for, it didn't matter.
The moment the patient's face turned toward the sky, Taesu began CPR.
"Hoo, hoo."
Thud, thud.
His hands performing the CPR were somewhat cautious.
The burns on the affected area were a concern.
Moreover, the gauze covering the patient's sides, shoulders, and limbs bulged in places.
Inside, large and small shards of glass were embedded.
Taesu had only ordered them to be covered up because there were parts that could cause problems if Gim Hyeokgwon touched them.
If Taesu applied force incorrectly, the glass shards could dig even deeper.
Even CPR required him to be on high alert.
"Hoo, hoo…."
Press. Press.
Taesu was extremely careful.
To the point where the strength of the CPR weakened.
He was being careful not to cut his hands on the glass shards.
If Taesu's hands were injured now, it would spell even bigger trouble.
The moment Taesu's blood entered the patient's body, sepsis was all but guaranteed.
Even in a small amount, a healthy Taesu could fight it off, but the patient was defenseless.
He was controlling his strength to prevent that.
Because the CPR was weak, the arrhythmia was not being properly countered.
No, sufficient force couldn't be applied.
For a moment, Taesu suddenly faltered.
Swish.
When he raised his head, Private Anthony was squeezing the Ambu bag.
Desperately.
That was the problem.
Taesu immediately called out to him.
"Anthony."
"Dr. Choi, I'm getting strong resistance on the ventilations."
"Then the breaths aren't going in?"
"What?"
"Stop the Ambu bag. You're pressurizing the chest."
Taesu shouted furiously.
Private Anthony realized his mistake.
"I'm sorry."
"Hold your position. No, keep monitoring the automatic blood pressure cuff."
"Roger."
Private Anthony moved swiftly with strict military bearing.
Taesu forcibly suppressed the surging emotion rising in his chest.
'He's not a doctor, not a nurse.'
If he had been medical personnel, Taesu might have thrown a double roundhouse kick right then and there.
It was fortunate that Taesu had stopped CPR immediately.
If he'd pushed through, the patient's already weak lungs might have burst.
He had to resume CPR.
But Taesu paused for a moment. The air pressure that had clashed inside the lungs needed time to return to its original position.
'Two…. One, again.'
Thud, thud.
After taking a brief moment, Taesu resumed CPR.
It was when he had continued the heart compressions a few more times.
Gim Hyeokgwon asked sharply, holding the syringe.
"Antiarrhythmic."
"Stick it."
"Okay."
Gim Hyeokgwon immediately moved into action.
Adding medicine to the IV wasn't difficult at all.
Meanwhile, Taesu had become extremely on edge.
A sudden arrhythmia.
Detecting it early had been pure luck.
'What is it? Why suddenly?'
The mystery of it was largely what made Taesu, already on edge, even more sensitive.
"Hoo, hoo."
"……Thirty."
"Breath, one…. two…. Okay."
"CPR resume, one, two, three…."
Taesu continued chest compressions, but his expression was complicated.
He had to find the cause.
Otherwise, this state would continue, and the patient's heart would eventually stop.
If only there were a defibrillator.
With that thought, Taesu quickly asked Private Anthony.
"Anthony, among the supplies, is there an AED, hoo, hoo, anywhere?"
"I'll go and check."
Swish.
Private Anthony handed the Ambu bag to Private Rachel and quickly went outside the tent.
Taesu had checked the supplies himself, but had lacked even the mental clarity to remember.
"Hoo, hoo."
He simply kept at the CPR.
There was one more thing.
He found the connection between hydrothorax and arrhythmia.
They were entirely different symptoms, but the fact that they occurred sequentially meant there was a high probability the cause was the same.
If it wasn't a problem with the heart itself, the only thing left was the kidneys.
Burns, and a kidney problem?
"Wait a minute…. Hoo hoo, you idiot."
"Ahem. Why all of a sudden?"
"Mr. Hyeokgwon, the IV, quickly."
When Taesu pressed him urgently, Gim Hyeokgwon blinked.
"I'm on standby. Just tell me."
"Add glucose and saline. But diuretics first, before that."
"You're telling me to administer diuretics?"
"Hoo hoo, yes."
Taesu, exhausted from CPR, shouted back.
Gim Hyeokgwon's resistance was no small matter either.
"Damn it, fill his body with water, or take it out?"
"Take it out, put it in."
"Why all of a sudden?"
"Just do it."
Fwoosh.
Taesu's eyes blazed.
Seeing that, Gim Hyeokgwon faltered and nodded.
He knew better than to provoke him needlessly when he was like that.
Taesu continued CPR.
But before he knew it, his eyes had changed from despair to expectation.
'Idiot.'
On the contrary, his muttered self-reproach was savage.
It was self-reproach for only now recalling the characteristics of severe burns.
From third-degree burns onward, the approach itself was completely different.
Especially since this patient had lost function over a large area of skin.
Human skin was not only about blocking germs and preserving heat.
Its role in preserving moisture was also significant.
The reason for applying Vaseline was also to preserve moisture with oil.
Before that, dehydration had undoubtedly already begun.
Therefore, circulating blood volume decreased, and kidney function deteriorated.
That was what caused the hydrothorax and arrhythmia.
He had forgotten that important fact.
It was a mistake born of being unable to fully focus on the patient's symptoms.
No matter how much that was the case, it was an excuse.
"Hoo, hoo."
Taesu even threw off the CPR rhythm as he checked his wristwatch.
How much time had been delayed?
'About 3 minutes.'
Since it was arrhythmia, it wasn't strictly cardiac arrest.
It wasn't too late yet.
But any further delay from now on would be problematic.
It was a situation where he had to hope the method he'd just thought of would work.
This time, Gim Hyeokgwon connected the IV using a vein on the foot.
And looking around the scattered medical supplies, he picked something up and quickly moved both hands.
Click-click.
It was about calf-length, but when fully unfolded, it amazingly transformed into an IV stand.
"Huh?"
"They say it's a folding IV stand."
"That's……."
"Plundered."
It seemed to be an item plundered from the military hospital.
Perhaps because it was the home of field medicine, they seemed to have developed practical medical tools as well.
Gim Hyeokgwon quickly hung up the glucose and saline first.
He then stated the next order.
"Diuretics going in."
"Push, push. Huff, huff."
"You must be exhausted. I'll get it in as fast as I can."
Swoosh.
He administered it really forcefully and quickly.
After that, as he stood still, Taesu gestured with his chin and gave additional orders.
"Open them fully, squeeze, hoo, hoo, squeeze."
"Why is it always squeeze this, squeeze that."
Squish, squish.
Gim Hyeokgwon pressed the glucose and saline simultaneously, bewildered.
But whether because the patient's body truly needed fluid, it flowed in rapidly.
Though it was also because it was a different composition from blood, Gim Hyeokgwon was amazed.
"What is this, is it drinking……. Camel-level thirst?"
"For now, hoo, hoo, add two more saline."
"Not glucose?"
"We're draining it out, hoo, hoo, I said. Is Anthony not back yet?"
Taesu was rapidly growing exhausted.
The fatigue that had accumulated until now was bursting out through the CPR.
He couldn't entrust it to anyone else.
He had to subtly control his strength while keeping his nerves on edge.
Here, Taesu was the only one capable of that.
Since an AED was an electric shock, that kind of delicacy was less necessary.
That was why an AED was desperately needed.
Just then, Private Anthony charged in like lightning, holding the AED.
"Found it."
"Power on."
"Powering on."
Click.
Private Anthony unfolded the AED and immediately turned on the power switch.
But holding the pads, he didn't know what to do and panicked.
It was because he couldn't place the AED pads around Taesu, who was doing CPR.
Taesu simply resolved that for him.
"Hold them until it charges."
"Yes, sir."
"How much longer until it's charged?"
"Soon."
Beep.
"Charge complete."
"Give me the pads."
"Here."
Snatch.
Taesu quickly attached the pads he received to the patient's chest.
And shouted to everyone.
"Clear!"
"Okay."
"Anthony, shock."
"Shock."
Beep, thud.
The patient's body suddenly jerked up violently.
But the pulse reading on the AED monitor was still spiking.
"Keep charging."
"Charging."
"Mr. Hyeokgwon, squeeze the IV."
"But you told me to clear."
Gim Hyeokgwon grumbled sheepishly.
Taesu had told him to back away with such force that his body had reacted on its own.
Standing before the IV again, Gim Hyeokgwon endlessly pushed the fluids in.
Until it charged again, Taesu went over it once more in his head.
Once urine was excreted, and stimulus was given with the AED, the arrhythmia would definitely be resolved.
Theoretically and experientially, it was certain.
Now he was truly confident.
But the patient's condition was poor, so the response wasn't coming quickly.
In anxious, uneasy impatience, he activated the AED three times.
He was waiting for the fourth charge.
Sss.
Yellow liquid rose in the urinary catheter that had just been installed.
Taesu let out a cheer.
"It's coming out, it's coming out."
"Three liters of fluid have gone in, and it's only coming out now?"
"The fact that it's coming out at all is what's important."
"Then what about the arrhythmia?"
It was when Gim Hyeokgwon asked.
Private Anthony shouted loudly.
"Charge complete."
"Hit him as is."
"Shock."
Thud.
Once more, the patient's body jerked violently.
After that, the amount of urine gradually increased.
Conversely, the pulse rate on the AED monitor gradually fell.
Everyone watched, holding their breath.
It was an important moment.
One misstep, and the heart could stop from the reaction.
Until it was deemed safe, they absolutely could not let down their guard.
Just in case, Taesu handed Gim Hyeokgwon an injection.
"It's lidocaine."
"Okay. But what is that other thing you're holding in your hand?"
Just as Gim Hyeokgwon asked, Taesu was holding another syringe.