Is it truly possible for individuals to be revived from death after their heart has ceased functioning for several minutes or even hours?(Image credit: Halfpoint Images via Getty Images)ShareShare by:
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In most instances, death is irreversible — once the heart stops pumping blood, it infrequently restarts. However, there are occasions when emergency personnel can assist in resurrecting someone even following the cessation of their heartbeat.
Thus, what is the maximum duration that a person can be clinically deceased and still be brought back to life?
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To comprehend how such events occur, it is crucial to initially delineate the precise meaning of death.
“Frequently, when [physicians] state ‘clinically dead,’ we are referring to cardiac arrest, which implies that the heart is no longer functioning,” explained Dr. Daniel Mark Rolston, an emergency medicine practitioner at Northwell Health in New York, to Live Science.
When the heart stops beating, all cells within the body — most critically, those in the brain — cease to receive a fresh supply of oxygenated blood. Following approximately five minutes without oxygen, these cells commence dying, a process deemed irreversible.
The alternative form of clinical death is brain death, arising when the brain sustains such extensive harm that it loses its capacity to oversee fundamental life-sustaining processes, such as respiration and heartbeat.
How resuscitation operates
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is structured to sustain a flow of fresh blood throughout the body, thereby preserving the viability of brain cells post cardiac arrest. Through the manual compression of the chest and administration of rescue breaths, emergency responders can aid in maintaining oxygenation for cells over a concise duration, even in the absence of autonomous heart function. In many scenarios, CPR is unable to restart the heart but can create a time window for other techniques that might.
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To prompt the heart to resume autonomous beating, emergency responders employ a method known as defibrillation. This entails administering an external electrical current to the heart, emulating the innate electrical signals that heart musculature utilizes for contraction. In some instances, these electric impulses can reset the heart, enabling it to resume regular beating.
Under optimal circumstances, these sustaining treatments can achieve considerable success. According to the American Red Cross, the survival percentage subsequent to CPR within a hospital environment approximates 20%. These numbers diminish when cardiac arrest transpires outside medical facilities, dipping to roughly 10%. This is attributable to reduced CPR training among individuals outside professional medical settings and typically delayed response times.
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“The quicker you receive it, the more favorable the outcomes,” Rolston stated.
However, even in the most favorable circumstances, effective resuscitation beyond a half-hour timeframe remains uncommon, even with the continuous application of CPR.
“For most individuals experiencing extended durations of cardiac arrest, survival rates are quite poor,” Rolston mentioned. “If an individual isn’t revived within 30 minutes, their prospects of survival are significantly diminished at that juncture.”
Success rates in resuscitation are superior among individuals who experienced cardiac arrest alongside reduced body temperatures. Extending time through hypothermia
Nevertheless, there is a noteworthy exception to this principle: instances where cardiac arrest converges with hypothermia. Hypothermia arises when the principal body temperature declines below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), and independently, it poses substantial risks, potentially precipitating the collapse of both cardiac and respiratory systems, ultimately culminating in demise.
Yet, should the heart already cease functioning spontaneously, hypothermia can present particular advantages. Diminished temperatures decelerate the body’s metabolic operations, shielding sensitive brain cells from succumbing post the depletion of their oxygen reserves.
“If rapid cooling occurs, it offers extended protection,” elucidated Dr. Samuel Tisherman, a surgery professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, involved in researching the potential therapeutic applications of hypothermia in trauma-induced cardiac arrest. “There are many documented instances of individuals submerged in icy waters for over an hour, subsequently surviving.”
The most prolonged, well-documented instance of successful resuscitation following cardiac arrest linked to accidental hypothermia involved a 31-year-old male, revived after eight hours and 42 minutes. The man, whose body temperature had already descended to around 79 F (26 C) because of a summer tempest, experienced a cardiac arrest, prompting immediate CPR administration by nearby individuals, sustained for over three and a half hours. Upon arrival at a medical facility, he was connected to a life-sustaining apparatus, ensuring uninterrupted blood circulation for five hours, after which he was gently warmed and effectively resuscitated. After three months, physicians documented the man’s comprehensive recovery, devoid of enduring neurological impairments.
What about recovering from brain death?
While cardiac death possesses possible avenues for recuperation, brain death tells a different story. When a patient receives a declaration of brain death, their brain is deemed incapable of dispatching signals to control the body’s crucial functions.
To declare an individual brain dead, medical professionals must ascertain the underlying medical condition instigating the brain impairment and eliminate any circumstances capable of manifesting symptoms suggestive of brain death. This assessment might encompass brain imaging via MRI, evaluations of basic neurological responses such as pupil dilation, and verification of the patient’s independent breathing capability.
Occasionally, news surfaces regarding a patient initially pronounced brain dead and disconnected from life support, who then purportedly “comes back to life.” Are these patients genuinely being resurrected?
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More than likely, the answer is no. The definition of brain death indicates that essential, life-sustaining regions of the brain have incurred irreparable harm, precluding any prospect of recovery. Therefore, brain death lacks reversibility. The more plausible explanation for supposed recoveries lies in inaccuracies in the original brain death diagnosis.
“Errors have occurred where individuals pronounced brain dead subsequently displayed spontaneous movements that should not have been possible,” Dr. Robert M. Sade, a surgery professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, conveyed to Medscape in 2018. “In virtually all such instances, the determination of brain death had been improperly executed.”
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Marilyn PerkinsContent Manager
Marilyn Perkins serves as the content manager at Live Science. She is a science communicator and graphic artist situated in Los Angeles, California. She completed her master’s studies in science communication at Johns Hopkins, following her undergraduate studies in neuroscience at Pomona College. Her contributions have been showcased in outlets like New Scientist, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health magazine, and Penn Today. Additionally, she was awarded the 2024 National Association of Science Writers Excellence in Institutional Writing Award, short-form category.
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