When he arrived at the scene, the street was bustling around the event. He immediately joined the resuscitation efforts of the Natan team that was there and asked to begin the evacuation to Ichilov, while performing resuscitation operations that included giving electric shocks and medical treatment. During the evacuation, he updated the Ekmo team on the details of the event and made sure they were waiting for them.
However, when they arrived at the emergency room, after 25 minutes had already passed since the start of CPR, Haim’s heart still did not start working again. Together with Dr. Dekal Setoi, the manager of the ECMO service, and Dr. Yishai Sekli, the manager of the cardiogenic market service, who were waiting for the team, it was decided to use a unique and innovative technique known as ECPR, which includes the insertion of a heart-lung machine (the ECMO machine) tubing during the resuscitation operations.
Prof. Shaham explains that this system enables a rapid renewal of the flow of blood and oxygen to vital organs, primarily the brain and the heart, and improves the chances of resuscitation in situations where the administration of repeated electric shocks fails to immediately restore the heart’s function. After about 15 minutes of their arrival in the emergency room, the acamo was already working in Haim’s body and a short time later his heart started beating again.
After he stabilized, Haim underwent a successful catheterization to open the blocked artery in his heart and was weaned from all the equipment that supported the failing heart. Prof. Shaham expressed that this was one of the most dramatic cases he had experienced in his many years as a doctor in intensive care. He mentioned that there is a very short window of opportunity that allows a sick friend to get a coma during CPR, lasting about 60 minutes from the moment of collapse to the start of using the device.
In Haim’s case, everything aligned perfectly in terms of timing, from the quick arrival of the medical team to the readiness of the Ekmo team in the emergency department. Haim expressed his gratitude to all the medical and nursing teams that helped save his life. In conclusion, he thanked everyone for their dedicated efforts in a moment of uncertainty but with feelings of hope and fear.