Australian man was resurrected by doctors after forty minutes of being clinically dead. The new method which includes a mechanical CPR and portable lung machine is currently available only in one hospital in Australia, but promises hope for thousands of patients worldwide.
We can usually see such stories only in the movies and on shows on TV – a patient is clinically dead for an impossibly long time, and suddenly he or she is revived as if it’s the easiest thing in the world. Well, real-life stories usually have pretty different ending, but a recent case in an Australian hospital gives hope to paramedics and patients. Colin Fielder, 39-years-old citizen of the town of Dandenong, Victoria suffered a heart attack. When the paramedics took him in the ambulance asked him which hospital to drive him to. After choosing the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne his condition deteriorated and he was pronounced clinically dead.
It looks his choice of medical facility turned out to be a lucky one – doctors and paramedics at the Alfred are the only ones in the country to use an innovative lifesaving treatment. They have been experimenting with the AutoPulse machine, a type of automated CPR which performs regular chest compressions. At the same time, a portable heart-lung machine maintains the blood and oxygen flow to the brain and the vital organs. The heart-lung machines are usually used only in operating rooms because they are large and heavy, and require constant monitoring by professionals. This new, automated treatment gives enough time for the patient to be transported to a hospital and to be properly diagnosed by doctors who can discover what caused the cardiac arrest and treat the patient.
Usually, EMTs and professionals at the hospitals tire from giving the traditional chest compressions, but the AutoPulse gives non-invasive and uninterrupted blood flow. The process is further eased by the use of a portable machine for the blood and the oxygen, a machine that is commonly known in theaters and live performances. Of course, the treatment not only gives enough time, but it also prevents internal organs from experiencing permanent damage, which is the main issue in clinical deaths.
