Dead For 40 Minutes But Thanks To AutoPulse Machine (VIDEO)

He was dead dead for 40 minutes. Australian Colin Fiedler was clinically dead for more than 40 minutes after suffering a heart attack but the hospital he chose just happened to be working with cutting-edge technology, an “AutoPulse” machine and something called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation that makes this type of resuscitation possible.

“For some reason, I said The Alfred [hospital], which is pretty lucky because they are the only one that has it,” says Fiedler, who has since quit smoking.

The Alfred is testing a mechanical CPR machine, which performs constant chest compressions, and a portable heart-lung machine — normally used in theatre — to keep oxygen and blood flowing to the patient’s brain and vital organs.

“I’m so grateful, more than I could ever say,” he told the Herald Sun.

So far, seven cardiac arrest patients have been treated with the AutoPulse machine and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

It allows doctors to diagnose the cause of the cardiac arrest and treat it, but keep blood and oxygen flowing to the vital organs and brain, which reduces the risk of permanent disability.

Fiedler is one of the three patients who were revived and returned home without disability. In the ambulance, paramedics had given him a choice of two hospitals.

“For some reason, I said The Alfred, which is pretty lucky, because they are the only one that has it,” he said.

The system is available only at The Alfred, but senior intensive care physician Professor Stephen Bernard said the results from the first two years of the trial were exciting, and he hopes to eventually expand the system across Melbourne.

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