False Death
CPR bringing back to life
“Doctor, thank you for her life!”
A son in pain expressed his overwhelming gratitude for her mother’s life. It stirred an array of warm emotions in my heart.
His mother presented to the Medical Emergency Room around 9 p.m. that night, barely conscious. A quick primary survey showed signs of shock. The team quickly initiated the treatment and started multitasking like a colony of ants. Probes, Peripheral lines, Treatments orders, Blood samples, Fluids — quick succession, in that order. She began to improve. The blood pressure started to normalise.
After a while, the monitors went blaring. The ECG waves became abnormal, and the oxygen saturation dropped. Her peripheral pulse went feeble. Her hands felt cold.
In a fraction of second, the whole team got into action. CPR cycling had already been initiated, the Critical Care team was on its way rushing from the OT complex, and peripheral lines got the injections flowing to revive the heart.
Signs of survival showed up after multiple cycles each of two arms pushing rhythmically against her chest, at about 120 times a minute. It was seemingly unbelievable when the oximeter started responding again. The pulse was back. ROSC was established.
Her heart took a pace, and sharp peaks and valleys appeared again on the monitor. The feeling of that revived heartbeat took off the blackness around my eyes, as if a new being is born with rejuvenation. That moment felt as an eternal complexity, but on the other side, practical aspects of CPR came into liveliness and its importance was thereby established in a real setting.
CPR is a life saving emergency procedure to restart the heart back to save the vital organs in time, importantly, the brain. Long-term survival depends on what led to the heart shutting down, but mortality is high if CPR is not performed in time.
When the truth of death dawns upon anyone with misery, even a single second is worthy of assessing the last left possibilities. The prognosis may be poor, but it gives the team that life-saving time to get things under control.
This life saving miraculous technique can be easily administered by anyone who is trained for it — not just a healthcare professional — even on the roadside. Yes, YOU can save someone’s life.
Learn CPR today.
Still in doubt? Check this out.
Let your heart become two!
CPR : Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation
OT : Operation Theatre
ROSC : Return of Spontaneous Circulation
