Two Episodes of Cardiac Arrest in One Week

procedure is not difficult. There is nothing to lose and a life to gain. Time is the important factor. Cerebral anoxia of 31 to 5 minutes can produce irreversible anoxic damage to the brain. A defibrillating apparatus may or may not be to hand. Electrocardiograms take time, and the decision whether there is ventricular fibrillation or asystole is not an easy one. It has been suggested that where there is doubt an incision should be made in the chest wall. If it bleeds the patient will most certainly be fibrillating. Absence of bleeding indicates asystole. With the former one may have time to wait and try the effects of electrical or chemical defibrillation. On August 20, five months after the incident, the patient was alive and well. There had been no recurrence of his retrosternal pain.