Let me try!

The next afternoon, Song Ning boarded the vehicle specially assigned to transport the members of the second medical relief team.

The vehicle headed to the dock, where they would board motorboats and travel to the disaster area in batches.

She had already asked at the front desk about Gu Zheng.

As expected, Gu Zheng and his group had set out for the disaster area with the public security troops on the very night the disaster struck.

Not only that, large numbers of militia members and volunteers had also answered the call.

The disaster weighed on the hearts of people from all walks of life.

The landslide had affected at least four villages to varying degrees.

Through the combined rescue efforts, the affected residents were gradually being evacuated to several temporary shelters.

The medical team dispatched earlier had gone to Ge Ping, the shelter with the largest population, where nearly two-thirds of the affected residents were being housed.

The second medical team was heading to a shelter called Gao Ping.

Their team leader was a doctor surnamed Feng from the county hospital, a man of around fifty. He stressed the precautions they needed to take during the relief operation and the scope of treatment they were to provide.

Their main duties were cleaning and dressing wounds and treating common ailments such as colds and fevers.

Any complicated conditions beyond the common ailments he had listed were to be reported promptly, with treatment to be decided after discussion.

Song Ning had to admit that their superiors had planned thoughtfully for a team made up largely of barefoot doctors outside the regular medical establishment and independent practitioners, finding ways to make the best use of them while effectively avoiding treatment errors.

As one of the members, Song Ning received a white coat and a shoulder bag containing basic wound-care supplies and several common medicines.

It was already the early hours of the morning when they reached Gao Ping.

Nestled among the rolling mountains, this village stood on relatively high, level ground.

When the medical team arrived, they were greeted by a densely packed expanse of canvas tents erected outdoors, crowded with residents evacuated from the surrounding villages.

After briefly conferring with the local official in charge, Team Leader Feng immediately instructed the members to split into groups of three and spread out through the village to treat the injured residents.

One of the people assigned to Song Ning's group was a barefoot doctor surnamed Zhou, around forty years old.

The other was Zheng Chang'an, an intern from the county hospital who was barely in his twenties. He had volunteered for this mission both to help others and to broaden his experience.

As anticipated, most of the patients had external injuries or ailments such as colds and coughs brought on by exposure to the cold. Those with high fevers or particularly severe wounds were transferred to a designated location for IV treatment and other centralized care.

The three worked together fairly smoothly, keeping busy for several hours straight.

Only when they had treated almost all the patients in their assigned area did Doctor Zhou straighten up and say to Song Ning and Zheng Tianqing, "We've seen nearly everyone here! Let's go over there and get some hot water!"

Compared with the previous few days, the rain had eased considerably, but it had never stopped. Moving in and out of the tents, they had long since soaked their clothes through.

A house near the tents had been requisitioned to treat seriously ill patients.

Several rows of makeshift stretchers served as temporary beds in the main room, while two smaller rooms provided places for the medical team to rest.

Quite a few of those who had returned earlier were already dozing against the walls.

The three sat around a small brazier in the corner, but before they could take a sip of hot water, they heard a commotion approaching from outside.

Moments later, several soldiers hurried in, carrying an unconscious man.

"Quick! Medic! Doctor! Is there anyone here who can treat him?"

"Our company commander was injured in a fall! We can't stop the bleeding! Please, do something!"

"..."

Doctor Feng, the team leader, was overseeing the main room with two others. They hurriedly laid the company commander on a "temporary bed."

Holding her enamel mug, Song Ning kept an eye on what was happening in the main room...

The men outside were probably soldiers from the Southwest Military Region. The medical team had been here for a while, but all the organizers and liaison personnel they had seen were government workers. The soldiers were presumably all out on the most dangerous front lines.

Suddenly, a low, guttural cry came from outside, stirring a small commotion.

"It's not working! Doctor! You need to increase the dose!"

"That's right! He can't bear it like this!"

"..."

A moment later, another scream rang out, filled with barely restrained agony.

The people around the brazier exchanged glances, then set down their mugs and left the room.

Under the main room's lone incandescent bulb, the company commander who had been unconscious had been jolted awake by sheer pain.

His trouser leg had been cut open, revealing a long, ragged wound in his leg. Blood continued to gush out.

Doctor Feng was somewhat portly, and sweat now covered his round forehead. Anxiously, he told the others gathering around, "An open wound with a fracture. We need to stop the bleeding and debride it first! But the wound is too deep. I've already given him several more ampoules of anesthetic, and it isn't working! What do you think...?"

Doctor Feng was a fully qualified county hospital doctor and the most "authoritative" physician on the team.

At his question, the other "doctors" fell silent.

"What anesthetic are you using?"

The moment Song Ning spoke, everyone's attention turned to her.

"Lidocaine," Doctor Feng answered quickly.

"Don't we have ketamine?"

Doctor Feng said, "With the conditions here... we don't meet the standards for surgery."

Song Ning understood. Ketamine was an operating-room anesthetic. Neither the lighting nor the sterile conditions here met surgical standards. According to the arrangements made before they set out, any patient requiring surgery would be transported to the county by motorboat.

That was why the medical team had brought only lidocaine for local anesthesia.

Clearly, this company commander's injuries made him unfit for transport.

"Let me try!" Song Ning said.

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