I witnessed a miracle.

I don't see any miracle.
Just people doing their job.

originally posted by: bellagirl
a reply to: Ultralight

In laymen's terms because of the extent of the blockage and the position in the heart he was having the kind of heart attack where you are usually dead before you hit the ground. It would take appoximately 30 seconds from the time he his heart stopped to shock him. CPR was performed during this time. After the shock, it would restart his heart till the next one which was approx 3 minutes apart.

So I'm guessing he had a total occlusion of his left anterior descending coronary artery which would account for his heart "stopping".
He will have been shocked not because he was flat-lining but because he was in ventricular fibrillation (or polymorphic VT although that usually does degenerate into VF very quickly in STEMIs).
The CPR was more instrumental in keeping him alive though, the shocks just regulate the heart rhythm which would continue to be chaotic until the blockage was removed.

4 days is about right to stay in after a stent and thrombolysis treatment. As long as the patient's heart function returns to relative normality and there's no other arrhythmias that is.

A STEMI by the way is an acronym for ST segment elevation myocardial infarction.

The miracle you witnessed was the miracle that is modern medicine.
Whilst there are quite a few posters on this forum who are quick to bash it, there are very few who highlight the good it does like you have done.

I doubt an alternative "medicine" ambulance would have provided much help.

originally posted by: Pardon?
I doubt an alternative "medicine" ambulance would have provided much help.

You've always got the homeopathic A&E...

a reply to: Pardon?

Yep...you got the whole scenario right. he was going into rapid v-fib.

The whole "miracle" word was taken out of context. I never meant the heavens opened and angels playing harps descended. It was more that whole coming together of circumstances. His brother only 6 months previously had the same condition and didnt make it. If he went into the v-fib that he had and was anywhere else except a resus bay i would not like his chances.

I really dont care whether anyone agrees or not...in my eyes stenting is a miracle.

originally posted by: bellagirl
a reply to: Pardon?

Yep...you got the whole scenario right. he was going into rapid v-fib.

The whole "miracle" word was taken out of context. I never meant the heavens opened and angels playing harps descended. It was more that whole coming together of circumstances. His brother only 6 months previously had the same condition and didnt make it. If he went into the v-fib that he had and was anywhere else except a resus bay i would not like his chances.

I really dont care whether anyone agrees or not...in my eyes stenting is a miracle.

Yep,keep believing!!!!

Jesus healed a blind man from birth in front of hundreds if not thousands, and the man told the pharasies, "I was blind but now i see....how is that NOT miracle!!!! " ....

Some have eyes but refuse to see...and ears to hear but refuse to listen,..

Most answeres to prayer and mircles come through those who choose to be the vessal of God's Grace.

originally posted by: bellagirl
a reply to: Pardon?

Yep...you got the whole scenario right. he was going into rapid v-fib.

The whole "miracle" word was taken out of context. I never meant the heavens opened and angels playing harps descended. It was more that whole coming together of circumstances. His brother only 6 months previously had the same condition and didnt make it. If he went into the v-fib that he had and was anywhere else except a resus bay i would not like his chances.

I really dont care whether anyone agrees or not...in my eyes stenting is a miracle.

I agreed with you.
The miracle is that he was in a place that had access to the necessary emergency treatment.

originally posted by: Bedlam
What's miraculous is that they shocked an asystole. If he actually "flatlined", you'd never give them an electricity transfusion. That's a TV procedure.

Cardioversion is for v-tach, v-fib, sometimes for SVTs or a-fibs. But never for a flatline.

Folks pay attention to the above this man knows his stuff. Trust me:-)
Regards, Iwinder

OOP.S and Pardon too:-) Sorry Pardon and I mean that I never caught your posts in time.

originally posted by: Iwinder

originally posted by: Bedlam
What's miraculous is that they shocked an asystole. If he actually "flatlined", you'd never give them an electricity transfusion. That's a TV procedure.

Cardioversion is for v-tach, v-fib, sometimes for SVTs or a-fibs. But never for a flatline.

Folks pay attention to the above this man knows his stuff. Trust me:-)
Regards, Iwinder

OOP.S and Pardon too:-) Sorry Pardon and I mean that I never caught your posts in time.

No problem.

You're testament to the miracle of modern medicine too!!

I thought you were going to say he had a natural by-pass in his heart. My uncle was experiencing heart attacks so some preliminary imaging was done to see where the blockage was and where the surgery should be focused. In the images they noticed that the heart had formed new blood vessels to by-pass the blockage. Ultimately, No surgery was required besides the natural healing mechanisms of the human body.

Some would call this a miracle, but I think that's just because we give the human body less credit than it is due. Now that I think about it, the word miracle is an oxymoron. Obviously its possible if it happened.

But yeah, the heart can create new blood vessels to by-pass a blockage faster than the body can die from a heart attack. Hurray nature!

originally posted by: Pardon?

The CPR was more instrumental in keeping him alive though, the shocks just regulate the heart rhythm which would continue to be chaotic until the blockage was removed.

As a nursing student, this is the first thing I thought of as well and the rest of your post is spot on.

originally posted by: cooperton
I thought you were going to say he had a natural by-pass in his heart. My uncle was experiencing heart attacks so some preliminary imaging was done to see where the blockage was and where the surgery should be focused. In the images they noticed that the heart had formed new blood vessels to by-pass the blockage. Ultimately, No surgery was required besides the natural healing mechanisms of the human body.

Some would call this a miracle, but I think that's just because we give the human body less credit than it is due. Now that I think about it, the word miracle is an oxymoron. Obviously its possible if it happened.

But yeah, the heart can create new blood vessels to by-pass a blockage faster than the body can die from a heart attack. Hurray nature!

In some cases your heart will form "new" vessels when another is blocked which are called collaterals and the process, collateralisation (switch the "s" to a "z" if you're on the other side of the pond ).
This tends to take some time and in an acute case these are generally of little use however in progressive coronary artery disease-CAD (or indeed angina) where there has been some ischaemia these can take over the blood distribution when a main artery becomes completely blocked.

Unfortunately it's not a miracle, it's a known process albeit not entirely understood yet although there is some hope that gene therapy in the future could help create these in CAD patients.

originally posted by: GAOTU789

originally posted by: Pardon?

The CPR was more instrumental in keeping him alive though, the shocks just regulate the heart rhythm which would continue to be chaotic until the blockage was removed.

As a nursing student, this is the first thing I thought of as well and the rest of your post is spot on.

Thank you.
Getting on for 30 years in the business has it's benefits!