ChinaDiscovering the woman collapsed, showing signs of cardiac arrest, doctor Eduard Quintana rushed in and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the spot.
In early March, a 53-year-old woman, surnamed Chen, suffered a cardiac arrest at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, Hubei province, while waiting to fly with her husband and daughter. Luckily, as she collapsed, the screams of the people around her alerted Eduard Quintana, a cardiovascular surgeon on his way back to Spain.
He immediately rushed over and performed artificial respiration and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the victim, making her heart beat again before the medical team could arrive. To perform CPR, Dr. Quintana places the person on their back on a firm surface, kneeling next to the person’s neck and shoulders. Next, place your hand in the middle of the victim’s chest, keep your elbow perpendicular to the victim’s body, and push straight. He uses his entire body weight, not just his arms, to press down when performing this move. The rate of chest compressions is about 100 to 120 times per minute. He has been hailed as a “hero” by Chinese media.
At the hospital, Ms. Chen was diagnosed with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease that develops when the walls of the left and right ventricles thicken, making it impossible for the heart to receive and pump enough blood. The doctor prescribed open heart surgery.
Local media revealed that Dr. Quintana went to Wuhan Tongji Hospital, in collaboration with a working group led by Professor Wei Xiang, to train on transapical beating myocardial ablation surgery, a minimally invasive method. aimed at Ms. Chen’s own problem.
After that, the patient contacted Dr. Wei, requesting surgery, on March 11. Open surgery took place for many hours, and her enlarged heart muscle was removed. Currently, the patient has recovered. Dr. Quintana, who saved her life, also sent his best wishes. Ms. Chen called everything that happened “fate”.
China has promoted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training among the public in recent years, as less than 1% of people know how to perform this simple but effective life-saving procedure. The success rate of CPR in saving the lives of out-of-hospital heart attacks on the mainland is less than 1%, compared with 10% in developed countries.