Justin Smith spend the night lying in a cold ditch before being found by his father.
It is said that there are some circumstance surrounding a person’s condition that even a doctor could not venture to explain. Recently, the doctor working for the Carbon County’s local hospital had such an enigma on their hands. A man with severe hypothermia was revived at the local hospital, after lying more than 12 hours in the snow.
According to testimonies, last year, Justin Smith, a 26-year old male from Carbon County, got out from the house for a late night drink. It was not until the next day, that his father began to worry about his son not showing up at home.
Smith’s father said that he became alarmed at the fact that Justin hasn’t returned home. And so, Smith’s father, went out the house to brave the elements, in hope that he will find his son. According to his father’s deposition, hours later, he managed to find his son, lying in a ditch, motionless and with a blue face.
His father also declared that he checked his son’s pulse in hope that he may still be alive, but there was nothing. The bereft father immediately called the local paramedics in order to aid his son. The paramedics declared Justin death and notified the local coroner.
However, upon arriving at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, a doctor working for the Emergency compartment, took a closer look at Smith’s apparently inert body. Doctor Coleman, Smith’s savior, declared that in cases of hypothermia, the doctors must exercise extra precaution when pronouncing the patient dead.
That’s because in case of hypothermia, all bodily functions, including heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate register a decrease. Thus, it is very difficult to ascertain if someone is dead or not. Moreover, classical methods of checking the distal pulse may be ineffective in this case.
A man with severe hypothermia was revived at the local hospital, after the doctors decided to give him a fighting chance. Immediately after Cole consulted Justin, an ER team rushed in and began to perform CPR on the patient. More than two hours elapsed, and Justin started to give off signs of life.
The ER medics decided to transfer Justin Smith to the ICU compartment, where a machine would warm up his blood. The young patient woke up after a few weeks and declared that the whole experience was like a dream.
Unfortunately, due to severe frostbites, the doctors had to amputate Justin’s toes and little fingers. But the team also said that Justin’s vital signs look good and he will soon be able to leave the hospital.
A man with severe hypothermia was revived at the local hospital, after spending a night lying in aa frozen ditch.
Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org
