The quick actions of a multidisciplinary team from Hamad Medical
Corporation (HMC) and a revolutionary technology are being credited with
saving the life of a young man who recently had a nearly fatal heart
attack while playing basketball.
The patient, a 33-year-old-man,
lost consciousness and collapsed after having a sudden full cardiac
arrest while playing basketball with his colleagues. His colleagues
called an ambulance and began performing first aid (cardiopulmonary
resuscitation). The ambulance arrived within five minutes and
transferred the man to Hamad General Hospital’s Emergency Department.
Dr.
Ibrahim Fawzy Hassan, Director, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Deputy
Medical Director, Ambulance Service, and Clinical Lead, Corporate ECMO
Program, said the combination of a skilled multidisciplinary team and an
innovative technology saved the patient’s life. The technology, called
ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation), was able to take over the
functions of the heart and lungs, essentially breathing for the patient
by pumping oxygenated blood to vital organs.
“The ECMO technology
acts as the patient’s lungs and heart, ensuring they get enough oxygen
by circulating their blood outside of the body. HMC is one of only a
handful of health systems in this region that uses the technology, which
requires specialized training to operate. This technology, coupled with
the teamwork of clinicians from across HMC, was instrumental in saving
the patient’s life. His successful recovery is a testament to the skill
and resourcefulness of our dedicated team and we are all thrilled that
he is doing so well,” said Dr. Hassan.
The ECMO technology
provided the time needed to stabilize the patient’s condition until he
could be transferred to Heart Hospital, HMC’s specialist cardiology and
cardiothoracic surgery hospital. Once at Heart Hospital, the patient
underwent open heart surgery and two weeks later was discharged in good
health.
Speaking during a Grand Round (a formal meeting at which
physicians discuss the clinical case of one or more patients) held last
week at HMC, Dr. Hassan recognized the skill and quick action of the
clinicians involved, stating that international research indicates only a
small proportion of patients who experience a sudden cardiac arrest
outside the hospital survive. He said the poor survival rate is largely
the result of delays in calling for an ambulance, not providing proper
first aid, and lack of access to technology such as ECMO.
Dr.
Alhady Yusof, a Senior Consultant, Medical Intensive Care at Hamad
General Hospital, said the patient’s positive outcome demonstrates the
power of working together as a cohesive team to deliver comprehensive
care.
“Without the prompt response, excellent skills, and hard
work of our pre-hospital team, and the magnificent reaction from the
ECMO team, led by Dr. Abdul Salam Saif, this patient would not have had
such a good neurological outcome. The cardiac arrest time was very long,
and the ECMO therapy completed the picture,” said Dr. Yusof.
Dr.
Saif, who is a Senior Consultant in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at
Hamad General Hospital, echoed this colleague’s comments, underscoring
the team effort involved in achieving the positive outcome.
“The
outstanding management of the accident and emergency team, with the
timely and appropriate referral to specialized care, and the excellent
response from the catheterization laboratory team led by Dr. Abdul
Rahman Arabi, were key factors in the patient’s response to definitive
treatment,” said Dr. Saif.
Dr. Nick Castle, Assistant Executive
Director and Head of Professions at HMC’s Ambulance Service, added that
the specialized skills of the surgical team were instrumental in the
patient’s recovery. He said: “The specialist surgical skills and
aftercare of the cardiac surgeon Dr. Abdul Wahed Al Mulla, and his team,
allowed our patient to return to an active life.”
HMC first
began using ECMO technology four years ago. To date, around a hundred
patients have benefited from the lifesaving treatment. The
highly-specialized therapy requires a multidisciplinary team of
specialized physicians and nurses.
Dr. Al Hadi Yousef, Consultant
Emergency Medicine, Dr. Abdul Rahman El Arabi, Consultant Cardiologist,
Dr. Amr Salah, Anesthesiologist and Critical Care Consultant, and Dr.
Abdul Wahed Al Mulla, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon were also part of the
multidisciplinary team of Ambulance Service staff and clinicians from
the Emergency, Anesthesiology, and Surgery Departments at Hamad General
and Heart Hospital who cared for the patient.
