Say Hello to Black Jack 1

Say Hello to Black Jack, Volume 1, Chapter 1 (pp. 1~30)


<1>
=Eight thousand...
[banner]Eiroku University Medical School Graduation Ceremony

=Every year, there are eight thousand graduates from the 81 university hospitals across the country.

=And you are the country's top 80 graduates!


<2>
=You are the future of Japanese medicine!

#1: Intern's Eve


<3>
[sign]Eiroku University Hospital

=Saito, you sleepy...?
=Yeah, I was on-duty 'till just now.
[sign]Operating Room

=I've been here 24 hours since yesterday morning.
=Me too.
[x2]SCRUB

=Helping out at the professor's lab...
=Only got 3 hours of sleep...
[x2]SCRUB

=Then I win.

=I only got 2 hours!


<4>
=Three months after my graduation from Eiroku Medical School—
=I am working as an intern at Eiroku University Hospital.

=PSHHH...

PSHHH—

=Look, Saito!
=You don't need to make a face every time you make an injection!

=An intern is basically a doctor-in-training.

=To become a doctor, you study medicine for 6 years.
=Then pass the standardized medical exam.

=However, that exam only tests your knowledge of medicine.
=And doesn't require any hands-on training.

=That's why most graduates work as interns for 2 more years after obtaining their medical license.

=Saitoh, expand the incision.
=Yes sir!


<5>
=*sigh...*
=I hate myself for being so hungry after surgery.

=Hey Saito...
=I'm gonna lose my mind if I keep going like this...

=SLUUURP

=What're you talking about!
=We're the backbone of Japanese medicine!

16 hours of work per day, on average.
Monthly salary only... 38,000 yen—!!!

Not daily but monthly salary.

[x2]SHWI—CK

=And it's not like our hospital is that stingy.
=State hospitals pay a little more, but over 70% of privately-owned hospitals pay less than 100,000 yen to its interns per month.

=You can't make a living on that.
=So—


<6>
=Well then, Saito-kun.
=You'll be on night-duty tonight.

[sign]Seido Hospital

=Eijiro Saito, age 25.
=Eiroku University Medical School graduate...//First time on night duty at this hospital... Hmm...

=An Eidai grad...
=So you're elite, eh...
[note]Eidai, short for Eiroku University

=Yes sir!
=I'll try hard to live up to Eidai's reputation!

=Since this is your first night, there'll be another doctor on-duty.
=Ask him to show you the ropes.

=Good luck.
=This is the reality of an intern.


<7>
[x2]KNOCK

=Hello, nice to meet you!
=I'm Saito, Eidai-grad. Reporting for night-duty.

[x3]HUFF

=Uh... Umm...
=I'm from Eidai, here for night-duty...
[x2]HUFF

*STOPS..*

=Eat...
=Eat while you can...

=And sleep.
=Sleep while you can...

KACHICK

BLAM
[sign]Night-duty Room


<8>
[sign]Emergency Entrance

=Seido Hospital...//Capacity 120 patients...
=Large hospital serving many of the patients in the area... Huh...

=Three doctors on staff...//The director, and that guy Ushida-san...
=Ushida-san and I are alone for tonight...

[x3]TRRR

[x2]BWHOOP

=It hurts—!!
=It hurts—!!

=Hurry up!! We're in battle from here on out!!
=Yes sir!!


<9>
=The patient is male, age 20!! Motorcycle accident 30 minutes ago!

=Left leg is broken!!

=Blood count, chemistry, and blood type ASAP!!

=Get 10 packs of rich red blood cells!!

=Eidai-grad!!
=Inject 1000 ml of lactec and hydrocodone!!

[x2]*trembling*

=You're behind!! Eidai-grad!!
=Cross match his blood samples when you're done!!

=I'm sorry...
=I was totally useless in there...

=No time to be depressed.

=The real deal begins...
=Right now...


<10>
=TRRR

[x2]AAAGGGHHH

=Dr. Ushida!!
=Her blood pressure's dropping!!

=Just shut up and do the transfusion!!
=She'll be fine if she's got this much energy to struggle!!
[x1.5]AAAAAA

TRRRRRR

=An accident!!
=Patient hit his chest and appears unable to breathe!!

=60s male!!
=Head-on collision on the crosswalk, he's unconscious!!

[x2]BWOOP

=Wow... This guy's amazing...


<11>
[x2]CHIRP

[x6]PLOP

=What are you smiling for... Eidai-grad...

=This hospital is wonderful...
=It never turns back any emergency patients...

=You're sounding like a layman...
=Geez...

=There's a points system for everything a doctor does...
=42 points for an enema... 12 for a blood sample...

=Insurance companies pay doctors based on the total number of points.
=A 10 yen per point rate standard.
[diagram from top]First timer fee//Late hours fee//Ultrasound//Standard blood test//Diagnosis//Total

=Huh.


<12>
=But it's not the same for car accidents...
=The hospital fees are paid by the car insurance companies, not medical insurance.

=It's called "free rate treatment."
=And the doctor can set the per point standard to whatever they want.

=...Are you saying...
=We can charge whatever we want for car accidents...?

=Did you notice...?
=All of the patients we accepted were from car accidents...

=The per point rate for car accidents at this hospital is 40 yen.
=We're charging four times the standard rate.

=In the end, it's all about money...
=We're not volunteers, you know...

[x2]CREAK...

=The pay was 80,000 yen.
=In just one night, I'd made more than twice my monthly salary as an intern—


<13>
=3 hours of sleep again last night...
=Medical interns lead the unhealthiest lives in Japan...
[x2]SCRUB

=And...?
=What about you...? Night duty...
[x2]SCRUB

=Yeah

[x3]CRICK

[x2]CRICK

=Wonder who that was...
=Another deceased, huh...

=Should I really keep this...?
=The 80,000 yen...

=Why not...//You earned it...

=But...
=This kind of money...


<14>
=I...
=Don't want to be a dirty doctor...

=You know...
=I never wanted to be a doctor in the first place...

=I was just scrambling to get into the best college...
=And here I am, a doctor...

=Doctors...
=What are we, anyways...?

=I'm paying you 100,000 yen tonight...
=Huh!?
[sign]Seido Hospital

=You're alone starting tonight.
=I can pay more if you wish.

=Oh...
=That's not...

=Worried?


<15>
=There are currently 24,000 doctors in Japan.
=What do you think of this figure?

=One doctor per ever 500 people in the country...//That's better than most developed countries in the world...
=I think it's a figure to take pride in...

=An exemplary answer...
=But you're forgetting the key point...

=The number of hospitals.

=Japan has a good number of doctors, but an even greater number of hospitals.
=That's why even a hospital like mine has only 3 doctors on staff.

=Meaning...
=The number of doctors per hospital in Japan is quite small.

=I understand...

=Doctors are human too. We have families...
=There's no three doctors can work every day and cover the night shifts.


<16>
=I felt like I was doing something horrible—
[sign]Emergency Entrance

=I needed money.

=The only doctors on night-duty are interns—
=That's not uncommon outside university hospitals...

=In fact, that's normal for hospitals in Japan.
=Don't go driving late at night if you value your life...

=The possibility of receiving proper treatment in the case of an emergency is next to none.


<17>
=That's how this country sleeps...
[text]In a survey given to 79 of the country's university hospitals,//Only 2% were revealed to have explicitly prohibited night-duty for interns.//80% of interns on night-duty were revealed to have experienced free rate treatment.//And over 90% of interns said they gave treatment,//With serious doubts in their own expertise.//That is the reality of the situation.//(Survey conducted by the National Medical Student's Association)


<19>
[x3]BWOOP

=Car accident, 20s male.
=Multiple contusions and possible fractures across the entire body.

=Level 30.
=Respiration 24, pulse is 120.

=Please hurry!
=We're ready to transport!

[x4]BWOOP

[x3]TRRR


<20>
[x?]SCRAT

=We're ready here!!
[sign]Emergency Entrance
=The ambulance is arriving in 10 minutes!!

=Doctor!! We need you in the operating room!! Now!!
=I know!!

[x2]TRRR

TR
=H-Hello—
=Is this Dr. Ushida's...

=Ya—y. You've reached Ushida. I can't come to the phone so please leave a...

=Doctor!! Please wake up!!
=It's an emergency!! We might need an operation!!
*snore—*

=SHIT!!
CRASH

[x3]SCRUB

=It's here!!
=The ambulance is here!!

[x2]BWOOP


<21>
BAM

[x2]PANT

=Ruptured internal organs...


<22>
[x2]PRRR

=I am out at the moment.
=Please leave a message after the beep.

=What's happened to him...?
=He's not coming back.

=Shit... No director either...!

=I can't...

=There's a ruptured liver and a hol somewhere in the digestive tract...
=I've never handled a big operation like this...

[x2]PANT

=What am I supposed to do...?
=He's going to die unless I...

[x3]CLACK

=I can't...

KACHICK


<23>
=Director...

=The head nurse called...

[sign]Operating


<25>
[x2]CLACK

KACHICK


<25>
=There you are...
=Saito-kun...

=Wh-What happened...
=To the patient...?


<26>
=Why didn't you operate...?

=He would have died on his own...
=You might as well cut his stomach open...

=But...
=I'd be a murderer if I screwed up...

=Better than doing nothing...
=You left that patient out to die...

=No!!
=It's your fault for putting an intern like me in charge alone!!

=Don't admit patients if there's not enough doctors!!
=You just want to collect the insurance money!!

=So?

=We save lives...
=What's wrong with taking money?


<27>
=Besides, what does money,
=Have to do with your not operating?

=You're a doctor...
=ZUP..
=Doesn't matter if you're a rookie. To the patients, you're still the doctor.

=A murderer?
ZUPPP
=It's his fault for getting into an accident in the first place...

=Always operate...
=Don't spit righteous bullshit to my face.

=If you're righteous, you're weak.

=If you're strong.
=You're evil.


<28>
=You cease to be an ordinary human being, the moment you obtain your license.
=You're a doctor.

=Be strong...

=Mornin'—
=Eidai-grad—

=Dr. Ushida...

=Sorry 'bout last night—...
=I totally drank myself to sleep and didn't hear you calling...

=ZUP

=What?
=Depressed again?


<29>
=Long time ago...
=I did the same thing...

=Told him he was wrong...
=Told the director... Medicine isn't about money...

=I still think he's wrong...

=But ya know...
=Thinking that doesn't do you any good...

=He's saved lots of lives...
=That's the reality...

=You're all right!?
=You're all right Hiroshi!!

=What are we...


<30>
=Doctors...
=What are we, anyways...?