Flatlines to Heartbeats: Witnessing the Miracle of CPR...

What a contradiction it is... The best experience don't always happen in the restaurant or hotels, but sometimes in the hospital; a place that attracts only patients and either sees then die or live.
It really might not be the best place to come to mind when you're thinking about positive experiences, but who says there are no good experiences in the hospital? Lol! Seems it houses one of the coolest experiences, maybe it's because it's always a near-death experiences.

As someone who spends most of his hours in the hospital, I sure do have wonderful experiences there especially when the patient recovers fully and showers you with an endless "thank you doc, thank you doc;" which leaves you feeling like a demigod for a moment, lol.... This has made me see the hospital as a place of resilience, hope and life-changing moments. One of those days was the day I got to witness a successful CPR.

CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, simply put the act of restarting a heart that already shut down.. it was a thrilling moment indeed.

It was one beautiful Wednesday morning, I had just finished my hospital call the previous night and was heading home, I had to pass through the emergency department and before I got there, I saw from a car speeding into the driveway and hurriedly placed a man, in his late forties on the hospital stretcher and wheeled into the emergency room.

Before I could reach the department's door, the family members were already crying and rolling on the floor; the unmistakable sound of an machine's alarm: Code Blue tipped them off and they could see the waves flat till the end with no cardiac activity display, I guess they were either learned enough to understand what those flatlines means or they've seen a lot of movies, hehe... Indeed, it was cardiac arrest in progress.

Not as if they were my patients but curiosity made me increase my pace just to see exactly what was going on and there, I saw the doctor in charge actively performing the CPR with intense focus, like his life depended on it and soon enough, the nurse took over the compressions while the doctor prepared the defibrillator and switched again with the compression focusing on the right depth and rhythm.

Source

Not long enough after the third shock, there was a flicker of activity—a faint heartbeat. I could literally hear the doctor saying, "come on heart, pick it up from there"
As if the man's heart heard him clearly, picked up and the man coughed weakly and opened his eyes, he was looking famished like one who has fought in the greatest battle of his life.

Chills ran down through my spines and for a moment, the world seemed to pause.

The family members already rolling in their tears outside ran as fast as their legs could carry them, I don't know who tipped them off but their joy knew no boundaries as they rushed to his side and threw thousands of questions at him;
Can you hear me? Are you alive again? Can you see me? Do you know me?
Such an endless list of questions with not an iota of strength to even respond to one, not the man's fault at all, he was too weak to do anything asides breathing.
It was a moment I will never forget—life snatched back from the jaws of death.

I left the emergency department to go home and rest but all through my way, I kept on replaying the whole scenes in my head.

When I came to work the next day, I quickly rushed to the emergency department to check on the man and there he was, lying down talking to her wife like he never left; it was quite a memorable experience I must tell you.

CPR is not just a medical procedure, it's a fight against biology and time. When it becomes a success, it gives a family another chance to share memories, to love, to live.
That day reminded me once again of why I chose this profession; it's all about humanity. It's all about mediating between life and death and doing everything within your power to tilt the scales towards hope.
Bearing these in mind makes me do the best in whatever way I can.

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