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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsActress Carrie Fisher in critical condition after a 'cardiac episode' on flight from London to L.A.
Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher was in critical condition Friday after suffering a cardiac episode during a flight from London to Los Angeles, according to emergency officials.
Fisher, 60, was rushed to the hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics shortly after noon, after her flight touched down at LAX.
A source who was not authorized to discuss the incident said the actress was in a lot of distress on the flight.
A statement released by United Airlines said that medical personnel met flight 935 from London upon arrival after the crew reported a passenger was unresponsive.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-carrie-fisher-cardiac-20161223-story.html
shenmue
(38,506 posts)IADEMO2004
(5,559 posts)Siwsan
(26,291 posts)I can't even come up with anything else to write!!
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)It's possible she could survive this but I'm very sorry to say that statistically, the chances are sadly poor.
How very sad. Our kindest thoughts to her family, friends and many fans. I hope she will be the exception, and make a full recovery.
RandySF
(59,225 posts)Which means to me they had ample opportunity to make an emergency landing somewhere.
beaglelover
(3,489 posts)A passenger sitting in front of her said she was not breathing for 10 minutes, which would be devastating.
Maraya1969
(22,497 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)it happened 15 minutes before landing. I want her to be well as much as anyone, but I'm also a nurse. Unfortunately, I know how the numbers run.
beaglelover
(3,489 posts)Doesn't that mean even if she does recover she would have massive brain damage?
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)And it sounds like there was only one rescuer, so it's quite possible he did compressions only; although of course I don't know, but even if he did get some breaths in, that's just a really long time, an eternity without spontaneous breathing.
With CPR what you're really trying to do is get that heart to pop back into rhythm and get that patient beating/breathing on their own again. 10 minutes without that? I'm very, very sad to say - it doesn't sound very good for her at all.
uponit7771
(90,364 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)compressions only for the first minute. (at least in the last 2 hospitals I've worked in)
With one rescuer, the person must switch from doing compressions, lift and tilt the head back and breathe into the mouth or nose, sealing the other off so that the air goes into the lungs. It's extremely physically taxing to do CPR, very difficult work, and every second feels like forever.
uponit7771
(90,364 posts)... without a difibulator things get rough.
I went to CPR but don't remember too much
thx
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)I thought all commercial jets carry a defibrillator. Especially an international flight.
If not, it's criminal negligence IMO.
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)An AED will not shock on a flat line because it does no good. All you can do is manual CPR then and keep checking to see if you have some electrical activity that you can then try and shock.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)When they say "full cardiac arrest" does that mean flat line? Or is it a media thing? Or both?
I would hope they at least had her hooked up to a defibrillator.
When my sister in law found my brother unresponsive the first guy on scene was a cop running in the front door with a defibrillator in hand. Unfortunately my brother was basically room temperature as he died in the night
It's nice to see defibrillators stationed in public places these days.
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)was done after landing before she regained a pulse. That's 30 minutes without adequate perfusion.
I'm so very sorry to hear about your brother. I truly am.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)Losing someone suddenly like that is truly awful. It's been two years and it's still hard.
Maraya1969
(22,497 posts)I always think that if I am ever in that situation that my nerves might not catch a pulse and I might start pumping down on someone's chest who doesn't need it.
Horse with no Name
(33,956 posts)n/a
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)So you can calm your nerves a bit that way. Also, try checking the pulse in more than one location. If the person is unconscious and not breathing, and you can't find a pulse, you are MUCH more likely to do good than harm by proceeding with CPR.
Hope this helps.
still_one
(92,396 posts)pull out of this I hope
Horse with no Name
(33,956 posts)especially when there is a massive insult.
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)Response to RandySF (Original post)
Botany This message was self-deleted by its author.
sdfernando
(4,941 posts)Botany
(70,582 posts)We're told the emergency occurred 15 minutes before the plane landed in L.A. A flight attendant asked if there were any medical personnel on board and an EMT who was sitting in the back of the plane came up to first class and administered life-saving measures.
The plane landed just after noon in L.A. and paramedics rushed her to a nearby hospital.
RandySF
(59,225 posts)Heddi
(18,312 posts)so they probably were closer to their intended destination than going anywhere else
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts).... there's almost no way they could switch airports any faster.
Botany
(70,582 posts)..... might not have changed her outcome. I hope for the best as per Ms. Fisher but I fear for the
worst. If she was in full cardic arrest and not breathing when the emts got to her then her outlook
is grim. Medical people can "restart" a sick heart but that doesn't mean the person will get better.
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)Just fuck you. End already.
still_one
(92,396 posts)"f**k the year 2016"
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)I thought maybe if I got sarcastic with it, then 2016 might take the hint. Apparently, it did not.
still_one
(92,396 posts)uponit7771
(90,364 posts)Generator
(7,770 posts)She's one of my favs!
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)Los Angeles TimesVerified account ?@latimes 5m5 minutes ago
Pilot on Carrie Fisher's flight told ground control that nurses were giving CPR to an unresponsive female passenger http://lat.ms/2ilCy1I
Could 2016 get any shittier?
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)Does not sound good. 15 minutes of CPR.... Don't they have defibrillators on planes now?
Too soon, too soon.
still_one
(92,396 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)An AED will not shock on a flat line because it does no good. All you can do is manual CPR then and keep checking to see if you have some electrical activity that you can then try and shock.
still_one
(92,396 posts)means there is still a chance that they were able to provide enough circulation
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)I think her chances, statistically, are what? Less then 5%?
I understand doctors have had some success with therapeutic hypothermia for cardiac patients that were down for several minutes.
Hopefully she is a candidate.
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)The key would have been to start packing ice around her immediately, right on the plane. It goes against everything we think of naturally though and would have been very alarming to bystanders.
If it ever catches on they way it should, we will need to do some serious public education.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)Is anybody recommending non expert first responders administer treatment like that?
Maybe some day the defibrillator will prompt rescuers to start packing ice.
For people interested:
How Ice Can Save Your Life
'Therapeutic Hypothermia' Can Protect the Brain in the Aftermath of Cardiac Arrest
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703298004574455011023363866
For decades, conventional wisdom in treating patients with cardiac arrest was that if the heart stopped beating for longer than six to 10 minutes, the brain would be dead. Now a new treatment being embraced by a growing number of U.S. hospitals suggests that patients can be brought back to a healthy life even if their heart is stopped for 20 minutes, perhaps longer.
The difference is profound. In recent months around the U.S., doctors and nurses say, cardiac-arrest patients who would previously have been given up for dead have been revived and discharged to return to their families and jobs with all or nearly all of their cognitive abilities intact.
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)tremendously. There is a large section dedicated to TH. Quite fascinating and a very engaging book.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)mopinko
(70,216 posts)he was under for something like 15-20 minutes, but the water was so cold that the kid recovered and was fine.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,339 posts)Amazing stuff.
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)This is not to say adults don't make some pretty amazing recoveries too, but the younger the better, brain wise.
Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)The key is what's been lost in 15 minutes down on the plane and another reported 15 minutes of CPR after landing. Time is brain.
One nurse I know had DNR tattooed over her heart.
still_one
(92,396 posts)octoberlib
(14,971 posts)2:46 PM PT -- We're told when the plane landed paramedics worked on Carrie for 15 minutes with CPR before they were able to get a pulse. She's currently at UCLA Medical Center on a ventilator. http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/23/carrie-fisher-heart-attack-plane/
mainer
(12,029 posts)I just watched Rogue One (in fact, just got home from it) so this is just shocking to me. I loved Leia. She was the role model for a generation of butt-kicking girls.
MD here too.
Sets the family up for a horrible choice to make around Christmas.
Just really, really sad.
Raine
(30,540 posts)Takket
(21,625 posts)It can't have Carrie too.
Fuck this entire year.
Her brother said she is out of emergency and "stable". Not sure all what that means. Wishing her all the best.
TimeChaser
(5,551 posts)Alas I am on my phone so I cannot link the tweet