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Italian boy survives being trapped underwater for 42 minutes

independent.co.uk

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Re: Italian boy survives being trapped underwater for 42 minutes

#4
There's a reason why they say that "you're not dead until you're warm and dead"!

The case of Anna Bågenholm [1] is similarly fascinating. She was in cold meltwater for 80 minutes before being pulled out, and made a ~full recovery. Her core temperature was around 56 degrees when they began resuscitation. It is truly amazing how effective hypothermia is at preserving bodily function!

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Bågenholm

Re: Italian boy survives being trapped underwater for 42 minutes

#7
It seems that the cold water also contributed to his survival. He only had to lose a lower leg, no brain damage.

This is always the question: very nice you are able to survive x y or z, but in what condition do you get out of it: like a vegetable or like a human being?

Re: Italian boy survives being trapped underwater for 42 minutes

#10
Some interesting drowning facts:

- Clean and cold water is ideal: pneumonia and metabolism.

- If you revive a drowned person, insist they go to the hospital: CPR can push the fluid in their lungs into their blood, only to return later on, drowning them all the same, "parking lot drowning."

- Quite often, water doesn't enter their lungs as their vocal cords spasm.

~ Paramedic in another life

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