I’ve had two, count them, two cardiac arrest saves in the last month. As well as two that were resuscitated in the field but died later on in the hospital. Those don’t count as “saves” because they aren’t.

The first was not only a save, but a traumatic cardiac arrest. A stab wound to the chest with a cardiac tamponade. To actually have a patient with a cardiac tamponade is rare, to have them survive, even more so. In this case the system worked from end to end. Short response time, immediate recognition, rapid transport to the nearby trauma center. Where they opened his chest in the trauma room and took a good volume of blood out of his pericardial sac. Then up to the OR for definitive surgery. The last update was that he was discharged to rehab.

The other one was just plain luck. A man collapsed just seconds before the ambulance turned the corner onto the street. Frantic waving from bystanders, one of whom did CPR. Immediate application of the defibrillator, followed by quickly placing him in the back of the ambulance at which time his rhythm changed to Ventricular Fibrillation. Better living through electricity was applied, sinus rhythm restored, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and the patient woke up before my partner could intubate him. When last heard from he was recovering in the CCU after having a stent placed.

Both calls demonstrated that the system works, at least when everything goes right. Usually, it works even when everything doesn’t go right.

Calls such as these make all the BS worth while. Even the saves that didn’t survived to discharge were relatively encouraging. It would have been better if they had woke up and gone on to live their lives, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Such is life, and death, in sorta big city.