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Prahran, AUSTRALIA — An Australian man who was clinically dead for 40 minutes was brought back to life with a new life-saving techniques.
A relatively new mechanical CPR machine called the AutoPulse was used to revive Colin Fielder, who now gets a second chance at life.
"I'm so grateful, more than I could ever say," Fiedler, 39, told the Herald Sun in Australia.
Fiedler, from Dandenong, Victoria, was taken to The Alfred Hospital in Prahran after suffering a heart attack. He was asked on the ambulance ride which hospital he wanted to go to and he randomly chose The Alfred— fortunately for him, he made a life-saving choice.
For some reason, I said The Alfred, which is pretty lucky because they are the only one that has it.
–Colin Fiedler
"For some reason, I said The Alfred, which is pretty lucky because they are the only one that has it," Fiedler said.
The Alfred is currently testing the AutoPulse in a trial. Seven cardiac arrest patients have been treated at The Alfred with combination of the AutoPulse machine and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. According to the National Institute of Health, ECMO is a treatment that uses a pump to circulate blood through an artificial lung and back into the bloodstream. Fiedler is one of three patients who have been successfully revived with the AutoPulse and ECMO after being clinically dead for up to 60 minutes.
According to the manufacturer of the AutoPulse, the machine is a non-invasive chest pump that applies chest compressions to the patient. The combination of the AutoPulse machine and ECMO allows doctors to diagnose the cause of the heart attack and treat it while keeping blood and oxygen flowing through the patient's body.
"It keeps chest pressure continuous and closer to therapeutic level," EMT Intermediate and Sandy, Ore., volunteer David Silvia told ProCPR Blog. "Which in turn helps us administer the drugs. And there are no interruptions in CPR because you can shock, and give the drugs while it is running."
- Patient must be disrobed*
- An adjustable strap called the LifeBand, that covers the entire rib cage, is strapped on the patient's body
- The start button is pressed
- The LifeBand squeezes the chest to determine patient's size and calculates resistance to be used
- The LifeBand then constricts the entire rib cage, helping pump the heart at 80 compressions a minute
*The LifeBand can be placed over defibrillation pads
The machine first came on the market in 2003. In 2005, the American Heart Association gave the machine a II b recommendation, which states it's "Acceptable and useful. Fair to good evidence provides support."
"This has changed the way we work a cardiac arrest incident," said Nathan Jaqua, an EMT Basic and student firefighter. "We use the same skills, but it changes the entire atmosphere."
In 2012, the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information conducted a study in 29 patients on the effect of the AutoPulse on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation. The NCBI found that the machine increased diastolic blood pressure compared to manual chest compressions.
The department added that this device is "promising" and could be used in the future as an alternate approach to heart attacks.
