Cardiac Arrest.
Flatline alarm on the EKG.
Get the paddles!
You've seen it all before. TV shows like ER and Chicago Hope give you a glimpse of what goes on in hospital emergency rooms. I was once performing chest compressions as part of a CPR effort when the paramedic's cellphone went off -- his ringtone was that of the ER theme music..and I felt a weird "out of body" experience as I saw myself performing CPR to the tune of ER....life imitating fiction.
Yet what happened 2 months ago in Tel-Aviv's Ichilov Hospital is not fiction; the Ichilov Emergency Room Chief Doctor (on call that evening) personally gave me this first hand account last week.
Prayers sometimes get the desired effect, sometimes it appears they are ignored, sometimes we are deserving and sometimes not.
This Yom Kippur, may all our prayers be favorably heard and answered, and may we be granted forgiveness from each other and from G-d.
Please accept my sincerest apologies if I wrote anything here or in a comment elsewhere which embarressed or offended.
May we all be sealed in the Books of Life, Good Health, and Prosperity.
Gmar Chatima Tova,
Jameel.
Flatline alarm on the EKG.
Get the paddles!
You've seen it all before. TV shows like ER and Chicago Hope give you a glimpse of what goes on in hospital emergency rooms. I was once performing chest compressions as part of a CPR effort when the paramedic's cellphone went off -- his ringtone was that of the ER theme music..and I felt a weird "out of body" experience as I saw myself performing CPR to the tune of ER....life imitating fiction.
Yet what happened 2 months ago in Tel-Aviv's Ichilov Hospital is not fiction; the Ichilov Emergency Room Chief Doctor (on call that evening) personally gave me this first hand account last week.
The patient had flatlined.The story flew around the hospital staff that night. It started off as a miracle. As the hours went by, the story was slowly rationalized...it would have happened anyway...
No electrical signals were going to his heart.
His heart wasn't pumping.
The emergency medical staff were well trained; among them included a senior cardiologist.
They used defibrillator paddles.
"Clear!"
No response.
They injected him with all sorts of medications.
Nothing.
CPR continues...Compressions....Oxygen...Drugs...Electrical Shocks...constant monitoring.
Flatline. Nothing.
The senior cardiologist, a religious Jew, is about to "call the time", but first bends down near the patient's head, and whispers into his ear the final words that Jews have said for thousands of years before they pass on, "Shma Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad."
Everyone in the room was silent.
Beep.
The EKG heart monitor started to beep.
The shocked medical team stared at the monitor...and then at the patient...and restarted administering medical help.
The patient walked out of the hospital on his on 2 feet a few days later.
Prayers sometimes get the desired effect, sometimes it appears they are ignored, sometimes we are deserving and sometimes not.
This Yom Kippur, may all our prayers be favorably heard and answered, and may we be granted forgiveness from each other and from G-d.
Please accept my sincerest apologies if I wrote anything here or in a comment elsewhere which embarressed or offended.
May we all be sealed in the Books of Life, Good Health, and Prosperity.
Gmar Chatima Tova,
Jameel.
PS: Any medical discrepancy/error in this post is my own, and not of the person who relayed the story to me.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
