The death of a woman in Nanjing was only very narrowly averted last week, after a heart attack led to the lady spending 32 minutes clinically dead, while medical personnel fought to maintain her heart by artificial means. In something of a miracle, the woman survived.
Shortly before 11:30 last Thursday, 13 May, an ambulance was transporting the patient for treatment and preparing to cross the Yangtze River to a downtown hospital.
At Taishan Xin Cun, as the ambulance was close to ascending the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, the patient’s heart and breathing suddenly stopped. Making an immediate emergency diversion, the ambulance rushed the patient to the nearby Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University.
There, the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed by rescue personnel comprised continuous chest compressions, endotracheal intubation by mechanical ventilator and the venous administration of medicines
It has been revealed that during this time, the patient endured nearly 32 minutes of abdominal resuscitation, and no less than seven defibrillation attempts through counter-shocks to the heart.
After the recovery was successful, the patient was sent to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for follow-up treatment, whereupon it was reported her condition was relatively stable.
The entire drama, caught by a security camera mounted on the ceiling close to scene of resuscitation, has been published in an accelerated form on the Jiangbei New Area official WeChat account.
While very much a case of being in the right place at the right time for the lucky lady, the dramatic incident also serves as reminder to the fact that heart attacks can happen to almost anyone, anywhere.
The Nanjinger reminds readers that Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are now installed in every last one of Nanjing’s metro stations, usually at the ticket-office level. In March of this year, Nanjing became the second city in the country and the first in the Yangtze River Delta to achieve full AED coverage in stations, while the total number of AEDs installed in Nanjing also then exceeded 2,000.
