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Ice water drowning survival of young patient (2025)

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Re: Ice water drowning survival of young patient (2025)

#11

Post by qnleigh »

That is incredible. 2.5 hours underwater, 1.5 hours of CPR. They were instructed not to start rewarming him until he could be given more comprehensive treatment at a hospital. They list 'death' as a differential diagnosis...

He didn't come out unscathed though. They describe his progress:

> At 6-month follow-up, he was giving short commands, standing without support, riding a tricycle, eating soft foods, and relearning simple tasks. Peripheral neuromuscular weakness continued to improve.

which is quite limited for an 8-year old, but remarkable considering the circumstances.

Re: Ice water drowning survival of young patient (2025)

#12

Post by kombookcha »

usernametaken29 wrote: post #8

I remember that cryogenesis was deemed viable in the 80ies but essentially surface area is your enemy. Anything larger than a cat can’t be resurrected. It’s pretty bizarre really, they froze mice and microwaved them back to life.

Weird! I wonder if there is some exponential complexity going on. More neural pathways leaving more stuff that can potentially break from an uneven freeze/thaw? Or is it literally that the freezing and thawing can't happen evenly when you're too big? A brief transistional period with unfrozen outsides and frozen solid insides is probably not great for you.

Re: Ice water drowning survival of young patient (2025)

#14

Post by the_arun »

Well written article. Life is a miracle. We are trying to understand it & there is more to learn everyday. I remember a couple of years ago, a 50yr patient (someone I know) was saved from a severe heart attack using induced hypothermia and recovering them slowly.

Re: Ice water drowning survival of young patient (2025)

#15

Post by HerbManic »

kombookcha wrote: post #12
usernametaken29 wrote: post #8

I remember that cryogenesis was deemed viable in the 80ies but essentially surface area is your enemy. Anything larger than a cat can’t be resurrected. It’s pretty bizarre really, they froze mice and microwaved them back to life.

Weird! I wonder if there is some exponential complexity going on. More neural pathways leaving more stuff that can potentially break from an uneven freeze/thaw? Or is it literally that the freezing and thawing can't happen evenly when you're too big? A brief transistional period with unfrozen outsides and frozen solid insides is probably not great for you.

I would assume it is purely because of the mass.

Re: Ice water drowning survival of young patient (2025)

#19

Post by theturtlemoves »

I'd be curious to read about 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 year follow-up.

Party pooper warning.

I'm afraid I don't have rose tinted glasses, due to personal experience with a family member with TBI (accident at age 16, 3 weeks in a coma). The aftereffects are profoundly destabilizing to his environment. I sometimes have quite a dark view of people's need to be a rescuer and celebrate the "alive!", when they don't have to deal with the next 40-60 years of living...

Re: Ice water drowning survival of young patient (2025)

#20

Post by ddeck »

looofooo0 wrote: post #17

I am sceptical about the 147 minutes, the child could have still clinging onto the ice and just drowned a minute before the parents reached the pond.

The timeline lists "Sled tracks seen to broken bond ice, EMS called" at 16:44. He was pulled from the water at 18:57. The article text further clarifies:

Parents discovered sled tracks from home onto broken pond ice through which he fell.

He left the house at 16:00, which is why they give the range of 147 to 177 minutes.

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