Aaaagh, It's the Flying Doctor (2)

A blisteringly bright day in August.

The cicadas were chirring away as if they were having the time of their lives, and cold sweat ran down my back.

I was right now…

“All right, this is the sixth floor of the Emergency Medical Center. The Flight Operations Control Room. There are some of you who are here for the first time, right?”

And I was listening to Trauma Surgery Professor Kang Hyunjun speak passionately in front of me, his eyes shining.

Behind him, huge monitors covered the wall.

Real-time weather radar images, complex maps, and even an aircraft operations board with unfamiliar numbers blinking away.

Professor Kang Hyunjun tapped a point on the map with a pointer.

“We have to decide whether we can take off by comprehensively judging the weather, whether a landing zone can be secured, and the patient’s severity. This control room is the brain that makes that decision.”

Professor Kang introduced the flight coordinators, explained how to use the radio, and, with spit flying, explained the protocol for when a dispatch request comes in...