Khaberni - Doctors in the city of Mirny, located in the far northeast of Russia, revived a man after five and a half hours of clinical death, according to the Mirny Central Hospital. The man had spent most of this time in severe cold.
It is noted that March in the Republic of Sakha, located in the far northeast of Russia, is a harsh winter month, where temperatures drop to extremely cold levels.
The man was returning late after an evening out when he felt tired, sat on a bench, and fell asleep. Passersby called an ambulance, and upon the arrival of the medical team, his entry into a state of clinical death was confirmed.
In the resuscitation room, anesthesiologist and resuscitator Dmitry Busikov awaited the victim, who was affected by the cold and alcohol. Busikov works in the Ministry of Health of the Republic, where he applied the "defrosting" technique in cases of clinical death resulting from hypothermia.
This technique relies on gradually and very slowly thawing the body, to prevent damage to the blood capillaries when blood flow resumes. Over four hours, the patient's temperature was raised from 24 to 34 degrees Celsius.
After that, the doctors began performing advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which includes indirect cardiac massage, artificial ventilation, and administration of circulatory stimulant drugs. After 25 minutes, the heart monitor showed unstable contractions before an electric shock restored the heart's rhythm, after 5 hours and 34 minutes of it stopping.
After 24 hours, the patient was brought out of the induced coma, and the doctors confirmed the integrity of his vital functions. He subsequently received the necessary treatment and left the hospital after five days.
Professor Samuel Tisherman from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the USA explained that a sharp drop in body temperature can increase survival chances in such cases.
He said: "There are many cases of individuals who drowned in icy waters, then were revived and returned to their normal state. This is due to their body temperatures dropping very rapidly, which helped protect their brains and hearts."
Tisherman is working on developing a technique for sharply lowering body temperature as an emergency medical measure in serious injury cases, such as gunshot or stabbing wounds accompanied by rapid blood loss, giving this "temporary hibernation" doctors additional time to intervene. He has already recorded promising results in this field.
