Rescue to Dying Soldiers In Remote Areas With Liquid Shot To Heart

An injection to steady the heart ensuing an immense blood loss may well save wounded soldiers or injured civilians in remote locations, posits an Australian scientist.

The fluid is being developed and tested by Queensland scientist Professor Geoffrey Dobson, whose research has been inspired by the ability of animals like the hummingbird to slow their heart rate during hibernation.

A-B-C of CPR Changes to C-A-B (2010 AHA Guidelines)
AHA recommends a change in the traditional method of carrying out a CPR.

Prof Dobson, who is collaborating with the US Navy to develop the treatment, said it was essentially designed to save lives and buy crucial time before the wounded could be safely evacuated to hospital.

"We've developed a whole new solution to actually resuscitate the heart after massive shock," News.com.au quoted Prof Dobson as saying.

The fluid makes a heart weakened by blood loss beat more strongly to continue delivering blood to the body's vital organs until the patient can be delivered to surgery.

Mechanical Tissue Resuscitation Technology Reduces Severity of Damage in Brain Injury
Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found that a new device can reduce the size and extent of damaged tissue in traumatic brain injury by preventing cell death.

Prof Dobson, from James Cook University, said catastrophic haemorrhage was the leading cause of preventable death on the battlefield, where up to 90 per cent of combat deaths occur within an hour after injury.

The high salt and magnesium solution, which has been tested on animals, has also been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects and to restore the blood's clotting ability, which can be disrupted by trauma.

Cardiocerebral Resuscitation, A New Technique For Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Survival rates following cardiac arrest went up 300 percent when emergency responders used Cardiocerebral Resuscitation, a new resuscitation approach for cardiac arrest

"The wider implications are for military and pre-hospital civilian use, in rural and remote areas, where nothing currently exists. There is nothing that resuscitates in that very short time," Prof Dobson said.

He said he hoped next to test the ability of the solution to treat traumatic brain injury.

Teens can Perform CPR as Well as Adults and Should Be Taught from an Early Age
Thirteen year olds can perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as well as adults.

The fluid will be tested further in animals before human safety trials are conducted.

The research follows the successful development by Prof Dobson of a treatment to arrest and restart the heart during cardiac surgery, which is used in the US and will shortly be introduced in Europe.

Source-ANI