Dead for 40 Minutes: Australian Man Who Was Clinically Dead Brought Back to Life With New Techniques

A man who was clinically dead for 40 minutes was brought back to life with a new resuscitation technique. 39-year-old Colin Fielder from Victoria, Australia was one of three cardiac arrest patients who was brought back to life after being dead from between 40 to 60 minutes. He was at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne and there were two new techniques used.

Fielder had a heart attack and was clinically dead for 40 minutes before he was revived last June. He said to the Herald Sun, "I'm so grateful, more than I could ever say."

"The Alfred is testing a mechanical CPR machine, which performs constant chest compressions, and a portable heart-lung machine -- normally used in theatre -- to keep oxygen and blood flowing to the patient's brain and vital organs," reported Fox News.

The machine is called AutoPulse and thus far, seven cardiac arrest patients have been treated with it as well as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

T"he AutoPulse cardiac support pump delivers improved blood flow without interruptions of fatigue and provides hospital caregivers better access to the patient, resulting in the possibility of improved survival for cardiac arrest victims," reports Zoll.com that sells the product. "AutoPulse also minimizes no-flow time. It allows rescuers to provide compressions while performing other lifesaving activities, or while transporting a victim down the stairs or in the back of a moving ambulance.

The machines allow doctors to find out the cause of the cardiac arrest and treat it but keep oxygen and blood flowing to organs and the brain which reduces the risk of permanent disability.

In the ambulance, paramedics had given Fielder  a choice of two hospitals.

"For some reason, I said The Alfred, which is pretty lucky, because they are the only one that has it," he said to Fox News. The system is only at The Alfred but Professor Stephen Bernard who is a senior intensive care physician says he hopes to expand the system.