If it’s just a fainting spell of cardiac origin—caused by insufficient blood flow to the brain due to a heart problem—the patient can regain consciousness with medication. But because such cases are sudden and potentially dangerous, it’s essential to get examined promptly to rule out underlying heart disease.
If it’s sudden cardiac death, then it’s truly life-threatening. In just a few minutes, it can be fatal.
Wen Yining quickly pushed through the crowd. “Excuse me, please move, excuse me!”
She was small and slender, and the first thing she did after squeezing through was to get the noisy circle of military wives to spread out.
“Everyone, everyone, please step back a bit. Don’t crowd so tightly. Let the air flow!” Wen Yining’s face was flushed—she wasn’t sure if it was from the sun or the effort of pushing through the crowd.
Standing in the middle of the circle, the mix of sweat from the wives and the humid, stuffy air made it hard for her to breathe. Even she felt a little lightheaded, let alone the woman who had fainted.
“I know a bit of medicine. Please, everyone, cooperate with me—spread out a little, let the air circulate. It might save this woman’s life.”
After saying that, Wen Yining knelt down beside the unconscious woman and quickly checked her condition.
Seeing her hands move with more professionalism than the doctors at the local clinic, one of the women closest to the fainted lady shouted at the crowd: “Step back! Why are you all just staring? This is a medical emergency, not a show!”
She grabbed her straw hat and started shooing people away.
“Hey, Sister Liu, why are you swinging your hat?”
“Exactly, we’re all military families. Our men fight for the country, and we need to stick together at home! Only if things are stable at the rear can our men focus on their work.”
“Right, we can’t form cliques! That would affect the relationships of the men in the army!”
“Both of you, shut up!” The middle-aged woman called Sister Liu swung her hat more aggressively, ignoring the younger women. She exposed their hypocrisy mercilessly.
“You talk about cliques and destroying unity, but you two have been the ones causing trouble in this compound since you arrived! Gossiping about one family today, another tomorrow—you just can’t help stirring things up!”
“Exactly! You even have the nerve to accuse others? You don’t even look at yourself!”
“You’re stirring up trouble!”
A few women who were usually close to Sister Liu stepped forward and started clearing the crowd. “Step back, everyone, step back!”
The younger women, embarrassed by being publicly scolded, dared not argue further and reluctantly stepped aside.
As the crowd dispersed and fresh air flowed in, Wen Yining had already completed a basic vital signs check on the fainted woman.
She confirmed that the woman was having a heart attack.
Placing one hand on the woman’s neck to check her pulse, Wen Yining rummaged through her pockets.
“Hey, this young lady is saving someone and searching her pockets too? That’s going too far!”
“She’s doing it for her own good! Loosening her clothes will help her breathe!”
“Exactly, at the clinic, the doctor said a tight collar can make it hard to breathe.”
“Pfft, say all you want, but unbuttoning clothes in broad daylight, that’s inappropriate!”
“Oh, next time someone faints, we’ll just worry about appearances and not help?”
“When the person is dead, who cares about appearances!”
“Enough of you two!” Sister Liu, already with a headache from the arguing, scolded them loudly.
Wen Yining, after searching all of the woman’s pockets, didn’t find any emergency heart medication. She knelt and began performing CPR.
“How is she doing, young lady?” asked a bystander. “We’ve already sent someone to the clinic.”
Wen Yining, counting compressions silently, wiped sweat from her brow and replied: “She’s having a heart attack. I’m performing CPR to help her heart beat again.”
She leaned in, listening to the woman’s chest, then continued compressions.
“Is there anyone close to her who can go to her house? She should have her regular medication there.”
Sister Liu immediately ran to the residential area and soon returned with several bottles. “These are her bedside meds. I don’t know which is for her heart—figure it out.”
Wen Yining first removed obvious painkillers and antidiarrheal medicines. Two remaining bottles—one with light yellow powder—she returned to Sister Liu.
The last brown bottle had a faded label. Wen Yining identified it as the heart medication, quickly gave her two pills, and put them in the woman’s mouth.
Seeing this, Sister Liu handed over a water bottle.
Wen Yining took it but didn’t give her water immediately. She didn’t know the exact contents of the heart medication but knew that most heart medicines at that time—like “Jiuxin Pills”—should be held under the tongue to work slowly.
Without a watch, she had no way to measure exact time. She asked Sister Liu: “How long has it been since I gave her the medication?”
“About three minutes,” Sister Liu replied.
Wen Yining checked the pulse again. The woman’s pulse had stabilized, and her breathing was more regular. Wen Yining lifted her head and gave her a sip of water.
“Please elevate her legs a bit,” Wen Yining instructed.
Sister Liu bent the woman’s knees.
“Good.” Wen Yining gave a few more sips of water. Slowly, the woman’s eyes fluttered open.
“She’s awake!” Sister Liu was relieved.
Though conscious, the woman was still weak. “Liu… Sister Liu… what… what happened to me?”