While swimming at the beach, a 34-year-old man drowned, had cardiac arrest, stopped breathing, was in critical condition, and was saved by hypothermia.
On August 20, a representative of Quang Ninh General Hospital said that the patient was accidentally discovered by local people and brought to shore when he was cyanotic and had stopped circulating. The beach rescue team performed CPR and after about 15 minutes, his circulation returned. The victim was taken to the provincial General Hospital by ambulance 115.
The team placed a ventilator, filtered blood, replenished electrolytes, and especially applied the command hypothermia technique to protect the brain. Hypothermia, also known as hibernation, is a method that uses cooling techniques to control the patient’s body temperature at 33-36 degrees Celsius within 24-48 hours after respiratory arrest. The normal physiological temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. This is one of the most advanced resuscitation techniques in the world, helping critically ill patients survive and protecting the brain from sequelae.
Currently, the man has finished the command hypothermia treatment, stopped using the ventilator, is fully conscious, and has no significant neurological sequelae.
Doctor treating patient. Photo: Hospital provided
Doctor Nguyen Tran Minh Chien, Department of Intensive Care – Artificial Kidney, said that proper first aid is an important factor in determining the survival of drowning victims, because the main cause of death is brain damage due to lack of oxygen. The maximum time the brain can withstand lack of oxygen is only about 4-5 minutes, the longer the first aid is delayed, the more difficult it is for the brain to recover, and the higher the risk of neurological sequelae.
“The patient was fortunate to be discovered and given timely and good cardiopulmonary resuscitation, along with the application of command hypothermia techniques to protect the brain, helping him survive without any neurological sequelae,” said the doctor.
Drowning is a common accident in the summer when many people participate in recreational activities, swimming in the sea, lakes, rivers and streams. To minimize the risk, people should swim in safe areas, close to the shore and always have a supervisor and rescue equipment ready.
In case of an accident, it is necessary to quickly bring the victim to shore and perform first aid steps on the spot according to the correct method. If the drowning victim is unconscious, not breathing, or has stopped breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, chest compressions) must be performed immediately, because this is the “golden time” to save a life. When circulation returns, take the patient to the nearest medical facility for timely emergency care.