Drowning boy, 9, revived after an hour of CPR
Friday, July 6, 2018 @ 9:04 PM
A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy pulled out of a public swimming pool in cardiac arrest has come round after paramedics spent more than an hour giving him CPR.
Normally, first-aiders have just 30 minutes to restart a patient's heart and breathing, since any longer than this nearly always results in death.
On very rare occasions, people have come back after longer, but it is not common, and revival within eight minutes is necessary to prevent brain damage.
In today's case, emergency services were called out at 12.45 to the public outdoor pool in Colmenar del Arroyo (Greater Madrid region) after the unconscious child was lifted out of the water.
Using manual means and a defibrillator, ambulance staff worked on the child for an hour and were on the point of giving up when they discovered his heart was beating and he was breathing.
He has since been intubated and admitted to intensive care at Madrid's 12 de Octubre Hospital.
The next few hours, or possibly days, will be critical.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com