Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

   Chapter 65 First Aid for Drowning

Along the way, Ye Yaodong walked and coaxed his wife. Lin Xiuqing's cheeks blushed, feeling that he was becoming more shameless. He was actually coaxing her in public. Although... Although she hadn't heard it in years...

"You shut up! We'll talk about it at home!"

Ye Yaodong: Saying one thing and meaning another!

"Fine, I'll say it later tonight!"

Lin Xiuqing: It's really... neither anger nor scolding can express it!

After the couple returned home, they waited for a long time but didn't see their sons coming back. Both of them were still at the beach. Worried about their safety, they decided to go out together to check on them and bring back a bucket of seawater to raise clams.

Originally, Ye Yaodong wanted to use plain water mixed with a little salt, thinking it would work just fine. It would only take a small amount of salt. However, Lin Xiuqing insisted that he was wasteful and said that Mother Ye would also want him to bring seawater back instead.

He had no choice but to comply with her.

They were being too thrifty, but in the end, it was all because they had no money!

The two of them hurriedly made their way back to the beach. Just as they reached the shore, they saw many people standing near the waterline on the beach, and there were heads bobbing in the sea.

"What's going on?"

"Did someone fall into the sea?"

The couple exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing tightly. They couldn't help but feel worried, and they both started to run at the same time, hoping it wouldn't be their child.

As Ye Yaodong ran, he began to recall that the village secretary's grandson had drowned before. The hospital was too far away, causing a delay in rescue efforts, and unfortunately, the child couldn't be saved in time. It seemed to have happened in the past couple of years.

Since it didn't involve his own family, he merely treated it as news at the time and didn't pay much attention to it. However, now that he was thinking about it, the memory was still imprinted in his mind.

With this thought in mind, the worry in his heart lessened slightly. However, since he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he still felt a bit uneasy.

As he arrived breathlessly a few steps ahead, he heard someone shouting from the sea, "We found him, we found him..."

Shortly after, several young adults from the village carried a child as they swam ashore from the sea.

The people at the shore rushed forward anxiously, and soon cries and shouts filled the air, "Ah Bin! Ah Bin! Wake up!"

"Son! Wake up!"

"Ah Bin! Ah Bin!"

"No breath? Oh, my son..."

The scene was filled with chaos…”

"Don't panic... First, press on his stomach to see if we can make him vomit the water in his stomach and wake him up..."

"Or maybe try hanging him upside down..."

The villagers were all well-intentioned and offered various suggestions in a flurry of voices.

The people by the sea were generally familiar with the methods of rescuing drowning victims, but this child had already stopped breathing and his heart had stopped. At this point, the most crucial thing to do was not to hang him upside down to control the water but to perform CPR, which involves chest compressions and artificial respiration.

The emergency procedure of CPR had a low popularity rate in older generations. It was no wonder that rural people like them were unfamiliar with it. It's unfortunate that in his previous life, this child couldn't make it to the hospital in time.

Yaodong felt anxious as he watched. Their lack of knowledge could easily delay the critical rescue time. After all, it was a young life at stake, and the child appeared to be around the same age as his eldest son.

He decisively pushed away the crowd that had gathered around. "What you're doing is not helpful. He has stopped breathing. This way, you're only delaying emergency treatment. We need to perform CPR on him first."

"What is CPR? Yaodong, do you know how to do it?" Father Ye looked worried. Although the people in the village were aware of the current situation and were unlikely to blame them, losing a child could make someone lose their rationality.

"I have learned it," Ye Yaodong replied. He was afraid that if he didn't manage to save the child, he would be blamed. He looked at the child's family members and said, "Should I give it a try? He has stopped breathing! We need to act quickly, and you should hurry to the commune and call for an ambulance from the town."

"Yes, yes, please try quickly," said Chen Houzhong, the village secretary, a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. His eyes were red as he urged Ye Yaodong to proceed and quickly instructed the child's father to run and make the phone call.

Being able to become a village secretary, Chen Houzhong was not an ignorant person. He knew that the child had already lost vital signs. At this point, they could only try any possible method, even if it meant a desperate attempt. At least what Ye Yaodong said about CPR sounded reasonable.

Ye Yaodong confidently reached out his hand. He felt for the carotid artery in the neck to confirm the absence of a pulse. After ensuring there were no obstructions in the mouth and nose, he immediately began performing chest compressions.

The position is located on the lower 1/3 of the sternum. Place your hands one on top of the other and press downward, reaching a depth of about 5 centimeters. Perform compressions at a rate of approximately 100-120 compressions per minute, alternating with two artificial breaths every 30 compressions. Keep doing this continuously.

This was the first aid knowledge he learned when he worked on the large ship. Little did he expect that this technique would save someone else's life after he himself drowned.

The villagers nearby watched his actions without daring to interrupt, only whispering among themselves.

Ye Yaodong repeated the same movement continuously, and before long, his body was covered in sweat. He felt nervous as well, fearing that he might not be able to save the child. After all, it was a matter of life.

He had experienced death once before, so he cherished life greatly. It was unexpected that he would come across this child in such a situation, but he hoped to save the child's life.

Even after seven or eight minutes had passed, the child still showed no response. The women beside him couldn't help but burst into tears. One of them cried, "Can you do it? Is my son already dead? Can't he be saved? Sob, sob, sob~"

"There is still time. Only after another twenty minutes without any signs of recovery can we determine death."

Upon hearing this, more people began wailing...

"Shut up... Didn't you hear that there is still time? Stop making noise..." Village Secretary Chen choked back his emotions as he reprimanded the women in his family.

"He moved, he moved! He moved his hand; he's coming back to life..." Among the crowd, a sharp-eyed villager shouted.

"Yes, yes, I saw it too!"

Everyone's eyes were filled with a glimmer of hope. He really came back to life.

Ye Yaodong also breathed a sigh of relief, but he dared not stop his hand movements and artificial respiration because, after a short-term recovery, breathing and heartbeats could potentially stop again.

He persisted until he couldn't go on any longer, and then he asked his elder brothers to take turns helping him. Finally, when the ambulance arrived and the child was handed over to the medical staff, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow, I'm so exhausted! My hands are shaking!" 

The villagers around him witnessed the child who had stopped breathing come back to life, and they were all very excited.

"Yaodong, you're amazing. Who would have thought you knew this kind of first aid technique?"

"Thank goodness you were here today; otherwise, we wouldn't know what would have happened to Ah Bin..."

"Yeah, you mentioned something about it being called CPR. Where did you learn that?"

"I never expected you to know this, Yaodong."

"At least we managed to save Ah Bin's life. Let's see if he dares to play in the water again in the future."

Everyone started discussing excitedly, but Ye Yaodong didn't say a word. He was exhausted...

"Alright, everything's fine now. The ambulance has left. Everyone, let's go back. Go back."

"Yaodong, next time teach everyone your method. Every few years, we have children or adults drowning in our village. If everyone knows how to do it, it can give drowning victims a greater chance of survival." Secretary Chen patted Ye Yaodong's shoulder, his eyes still red.

"That's great; it's simple!"

"When Ah Bin's parents come back from the hospital, I'll have them come over and thank you. Without you, that child might have really been gone."

Father Ye took over the conversation with a smile, "Secretary Chen, you're being too polite. It's only natural for the villagers to lend a helping hand."

"It's only natural to express gratitude!"

As they walked, everyone exchanged pleasantries and polite words...