Chapter 78
I left the training committee conference room in a daze.
I survived.
I survived again this time.
As expected, I’m lucky.
But why?
I couldn’t make any sense of it.
I pressed the elevator button.
I stepped into the elevator.
Just as I was about to press the close button, someone hurried over and held the elevator door.
“Wait!”
A familiar voice. It was the chief.
Park Woong came into the elevator, panting.
The doors closed, and awkward silence settled over the cramped space.
This feels like déjà vu.
My mind was a mess.
What on earth happened?
No disciplinary action?
I was certain I’d be disciplined, but could it be...
“Chief.”
“Yeah.”
“About today... the result.”
I had trouble choosing my words.
What should I say?
Thank you for saving me?
Too obvious?
“How did I...”
In the end, I asked the most fundamental question.
“Could it be that Chief Park...”
Before I could finish, Chief Park Woong let out a snort of laughter.
“What? Me, what?”
“No, I mean, um... I was wondering if you might have pulled some strings for me or something...”
Yes, that was it.
The most common cliché in medical dramas.
A touching story where the chief shields the subordinate who caused trouble with his own body.
Maybe Chief Park Woong had gone to bat for me behind the scenes?
Was his head bowed in the conference room earlier actually from exhaustion after defending me and fighting the other professors?
At my careful question, the chief finally turned his head.
“Huh? What?”
“...Huh?”
“No, I mean, um... so, maybe you defended me or something...”
“What are you talking about?”
The chief really looked confused.
“I didn’t do anything special? I just submitted a few personnel evaluation documents through the admin team since the committee was being held. Like, that you’re diligent in your daily work, get along well with your colleagues, have a strong appetite for learning... stuff like that. That you’re a friendly kid and all that.”
Just a few formal documents?
“Then why was today’s discipline... like that...”
“Discipline?”
The chief asked back.
“There wasn’t even anything to discipline you for in the first place.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
“Think about it. Did you do the whole procedure from beginning to end by yourself? No, right? Professor Jeon Tae-jeong came in midway and finished it. Then your responsibility ends there. And while you were doing the procedure, clinical instructor Lee Min-jae was standing right there. Of course, he’s also a trainee, but still, he’s got a specialist license. Then by the rules, you could also say it was done under guidance and supervision. And most importantly, did you clearly violate any hospital regulations? Is there a rule saying you can’t insert a REBOA in the ER? There isn’t, right?”
Well... that’s true.
Of course, there was an unspoken rule that a second-year couldn’t do it alone without a specialist’s supervision, but it wasn’t a written regulation.
“Then that’s that.”
The chief said with a shrug.
The elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened.
Still dazed, I watched the chief’s back as he got off first.
So it really had ended just because there was no basis for it.
With a hollow laugh, I got off the elevator.
The hospital lobby was fairly crowded, probably because lunchtime was approaching.
Patients, guardians, and countless medical staff in white coats.
The chief was walking a few steps ahead of me.
“Ah, right.”
The chief suddenly stopped and turned back.
“You.”
He pointed at me with his chin.
“Looks like your hands are actually pretty useful.”
“...Huh?”
I’m our department’s resident butterfingers, though.
“Well, that laparotomy incident from last year too. And this REBOA thing this time too. In the end, you succeeded at both, didn’t you?”
That was the Scalpel God who pulled it off.
“Ah, no. I was just lucky. Thank you.”
I switched on my mechanical humility mode.
“Tch. A resident who does crazy things two years in a row has rolled into our department, and I don’t know whether I should like it or hate it...”
The chief sighed.
“That Lee Min-jae punk too. There are two complete lunatics in our department. What sin did I commit in my past life...”
The chief shook his head and started walking again.
I felt an urge to object to the chief’s last words.
Aren’t there three lunatics, Chief, not two?
Including you.
We crossed the hospital lobby without a word.
Bright sunlight was pouring in through the glass doors.
“And.”
The chief spoke again.
This time, his voice was a little more serious.
“Do you remember what I said last year about the trauma center secondment training?”
“Ah, yes. I remember.”
My heart dropped.
No way he was bringing that up again at a time like this... right?
Come on, no way.
I’m the one who just got dragged to a disciplinary committee, for crying out loud.
“That...”
The chief chose his words for a moment.
My heart thumped.
Please say it’s not that.
“Uh... probably not.”
The words I’d been waiting for finally came out of his mouth.
“...Yeeesss!!!!!”
Thank goodness.
Really, thank goodness.
I’d escaped the hellish training collaboration between Professor Kang Hyun-joon and the Scalpel God.
Suppressing the emotion that almost made me burst into tears, I answered as nonchalantly as I could.
“Ah... yes. Understood.”
The disappointed look was just a bonus.
“Hmm.”
The chief nodded. Then he added the next sentence, shattering all my relief to pieces.
“Instead.”
Instead?
“Want to ride in the doctor helicopter?”
“...”
“......Huh?”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
What did you just say?
“Did I hear that wrong?”
I asked like an idiot.
The chief laughed heartily, though I couldn’t tell whether my reaction was just that funny to him or whether my very existence was funny.
“Hahahaha! Why, don’t you like it? An emergency room in the sky! How romantic is that! Professor Kang Hyun-joon has been going on and on about wanting you, so I decided to settle it with this instead of the trauma center! Go and learn a lot!”
The chief patted my shoulder.
Doctor helicopter.
A flying emergency room.
A cramped space.
Insane noise and vibration.
Romance?
Romance, my ass.
A helicopter? Me? A flying emergency room?
This is insane.
I’m still only a second-year resident who can’t even walk properly on solid ground.
“C-Chief.”
I almost instinctively started looking for a way out of this ridiculous order.
Right, regulations.
Maybe that damned regulation that had always beaten me down would save me this time.
“But as far as I know, on an emergency medical helicopter, that doctor helicopter, an emergency medicine specialist or trauma surgeon is supposed to be on board and provide treatment on site, but I’m still...”
“Oh, really?”
The chief hesitated for a moment at my words.
A flicker of confusion crossed Park Woong’s face, as if to say, “Oh? Was there something like that?”
This was it!
I got him!
I cheered inwardly.
Yeah, as expected, someone at my level couldn’t do it!
“Ahem!”
The chief suddenly cleared his throat and puffed out his chest.
And then he looked down at me with a very confident expression.
“And who do you think I am!”
The chief thumped his own chest twice.
“The conscience of Cheongjin University Medical Center’s Emergency Medicine Department, who follows laws and regulations more strictly than anyone else! Chief Park Woong! Do you really think I’d put you on a helicopter without checking something that basic?”
Yes, that sure does seem to be the case, Chief.
The chief took his smartphone out of his pocket.
A document file was already open on the screen.
He shoved the screen right in front of my face.
“I checked it already! Here, look!”
The screen showed a stiffly titled document: [Detailed Guidelines for Operating Emergency Medical Helicopters].
The logo identifying it as an official Central Emergency Medical Center document was clearly stamped on it as well.
“See? Official NEMC material! This is the bible that governs everything about the doctor helicopter! Now go down the page a bit! Keep going!”
The chief scrolled quickly with his finger.
I desperately followed the tip of his finger with my eyes.
Numerous clauses and detailed regulations flashed by in a blur.
At last, his finger stopped at one section.
“Here! Read this!”
“...Let’s see...”
(Qualifications for Medical Personnel on the Air Medical Team)
1) Physician
a) A specialist affiliated with a regional emergency medical center, local emergency medical center, or regional trauma center.
The moment I read that first line, I saw hope once again.
“...Well, for item [a], I don’t qualify, Chief. Do I look like a specialist?”
“Hey now! I told you to read to the end! Keep going!”
I reluctantly read down through the next items at his urging.
b) A person who has completed the prescribed aviation-medicine training designated by the head of the Central Emergency Medical Center
c) A person who has boarded the relevant emergency medical helicopter (main helicopter) at least five times and completed field training
d) A person judged physically or psychologically fit for aviation duty even after five or more helicopter boarding trainings
After reading all the items, I looked up.
“...Chief. I’ve never received that training or boarding practice. And my mental state feels like it needs psychiatric counseling right now.”
At my heartfelt plea, the chief burst out laughing again.
“Hey now! You still haven’t seen the key point! Look here!”
He scrolled a little farther down and pointed to a clause written in tiny print.
[※ Notwithstanding the above principles, the head of the Central Emergency Medical Center may allow additional personnel to board the doctor helicopter for purposes such as disaster response, helicopter maintenance and inspection, education and training, project evaluation, and investigation.]
The chief jabbed his finger at education and training to emphasize the words.
“See? Education’s in there, right? Training too! You’re not boarding as an official air medical team doctor! It’s as part of the trauma center secondment training! As a trainee! You’re riding it for education and training! Heh heh. See? There isn’t any legal problem or procedural defect at all!”
“...Yes, Chief.”
I gave up on everything and answered in a lifeless voice.
“Good! As long as you understand!”
The chief put his smartphone back in his pocket with a very satisfied expression.
“Conveniently, in August our hospital is scheduled to run a new doctor-helicopter education and training course, so I’ll tell you the details again then! I’ll turn you into a doctor who flies through the sky! Hahaha!”
The chief rambled on, excited all by himself.
August.
There were still several months left, but that time would come in the blink of an eye.
I was already hearing phantom rotor blades echoing in my ears.
“J-just a moment, Chief!”