Excellent news. Most Americans wonder how the country spends billions in health care, but new techniques and procedures are far and in between. Good work medical community...keep up the good work and research, we are counting on you!!

I worked in wildlife rehabilitation for a long time and cooling an animal was SOP for head trauma, I am not sure why it is taking so long for human medicine to embrace it.

Im glad to see this is finally getting the attention it deserves. What scares me...and what should scare EVERYONE out there is the fact that this has not been widely implemented not due to medical issues it could CAUSE rather due to bad information about the procedure or bad communication between dr/nursing staff. More people in the nursing and hospital community need to get involved and lets bring this to EVERY hospital. As far as costs for the chilling machine. Its not that difficult to refrigerate saline and use cooled saline injections in combination with ice packs placed strategically around the body(around the neck, main body, legs etc). As most people know getting hypothermia is NOT that difficult in cool weather/conditions. Its warming the body afterwards that can be difficult. More hospitals should seriously look into this relative simple procedure especially since the conditions it causes does not lead to any more adverse health affects than the original heart attack. Id much rather be freezing than dead or brain damaged.

My husband, age 52, is recovering from a cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation and had this procedure. The cardiac arrest occured in our home and I started CPR. The local ambulance squad shocked his heart back to a normal rhythm and the hospital chilled him immediately. Although he was extremely unstable (cardiogenic shock, pulmonary edema...) and still has a very weak heart, he awoke one week after his cardiac arrest with a completely normal brain. No cognitive changes what so ever. Today, he walked the hallways in the hospital without assistance, send emails on his blackberry, talked with friends and will come home on Thursday. This procedure is truly remarkable.

Our hospital recently purchased a Temperature Management System that cools the body at a rapid rate; quicker than our current Hypothermia devices. I think a lot of lives will be saved as a result of this new device.

My mother-in-law collapsed on Sunday morning from what was thought to be a heart attrack. Upon arrival at the hospital in Ralegh, NC she was immediately chilled and cold saline was used to cool her. They warmed her body temperature back up yesterday and today we are still waiting to find out the results. No matter the outcome without this treatment there would have been no chance at all for her survival and I thank God she was taken to a hospital where this option was available.

This is a great story and I wish the patient and his family continued success. I know from a seminar I attended that the American public is being fed things the body doesn't recognize, and the result is diabetes and heart clogging diseases. This is decidedly different than in Africa where the people face death from infectious diseases mostly. Face it... the American diet is a slow acting killer. At some point ingesting all these poisons, chips, snacks, fried this and buttered that will result in death. Rather than investing in expensive equipment, lets eat better and exercise more. It still seems to work.

My brother, 24 years old, suffered cardiac arrest in May. He suddenly collapsed while in the bathroom and he was unresponsive for nearly thirty minutes after CPR and 6 defibrillation shocks had been administered to him. When he finally made it to the hospital the doctors were able to restart his heart and they put him on various machines to make sure everything was still working. The doctors told us that brain damage was almost 99% probable because of how long he had been without oxygen but they told us about a cooling machine and blanket the hospital had recently acquired. My brother was the first one to be cooled with the machine in the hospital and when he woke up nine days after his cardiac arrest through some miracle there is virtually no brain damage. He has memory loss of the weeks preceeding his cardiac arrest but aside from that it is like his brain has no other ill effects. The coooling blanket was a miracle device for my brother and I can only hope that more patients around the country can benefit from it!

It works!!!! I underwent cardiac arrest July 26, 2009 in Wilmington, N.C. CPR for 15-20 minutes, then defib to get heart started. Taken to New Hanover Regional Hospital and placed in Arctic Sun cooling treatment. I awoke two days later trying to figure out how I got to the hospital and what happened to me. Suffered no brain damage and was back at work in about two months. I was told that I was the second person to walk out of the hospital with no damage after suffering my heart problem.

My maternal Grandfather and my Mother both died from something similar,

This is absurd. The percentage increases are small and the evaluation criteria subjective. Where is the double blind study with statistically significant numbers? A positive outcome is not proof of efficacy. I have yet to see a study that is clear, compelling, and conclusive.

mark s who cares about that stuff

if the procedure saves just 1 brain its a worthwhile procedure as either way it doesnt do any harm to the people that it doesnt help

These new technologies offer but a short lease on life. If those primary causes these patients went into cardiac arrest for are not addressed then no technology(cold therapy or otherwise) will be able to revive them. In addition, what this article fails to mention are the percentages of cardiac arrest patients in which cold therapy had no effect whatsoever even as some if not most of these patients failed to heed the advice of medical professionals of a sound diet, exercise, and healthy living(not smoking).

Now this is science I can get into...clearly it's becoming a worthwhile procedure...

I've known an otherwise nice man that has had triple bypass surgery, heart transplant, etc., and I observed him at a casino buffet eating just about everything that is unhealthy: butter, Prime rib, Shrimp, Lobster, etc., . And I asked him do you believe in God? His response, " if believing in God involves forsaking buttered lobster and shrimp and fried pork, then I am an atheist." Shortly thereafter this man passed away, but a friend of this atheist said, " Not even being in that cold box at the morgue eliminated that smirk on his face." True story.

My brother, 36, at the time, suffered cardiac arrest as the result of a stab wound to the heart. His brain was deprived of oxygen for 20-25mins. Unfortunately, I didn't know about this procedure then, and apparently, neither did the hospital, for they didn't mention this type of treatment. Sad to say he has been in a vegetative state for the almost 2 1/2 years and my family is faced with the horrible decision to stop his tube feedings.

In China - They do open heart surgery by drastically cooling the body temperature. Check into this one!

I have seen this work. When Paramedics with 35 years on the job are impressed so am I. Pt had CPR for 45 minutes before arriving in ER, the cooling protocol was started when a rhythm returned and he was taken to Cath lab then CCU. 3 weeks later he was back at the store where he collapsed, thanking them for calling 911. We are a community hospital 60 miles north of Seattle and do this whenever a post arrest arrives. Again it really works.

Is the hospital the only place that this cooling procedure be administered? Can a cooling procedure be initiated immediately by someone at the location where the person is having a heart attack, or stroke, i.e., at home? Can ice, cold water, cold wet towels, a fan, etc. be used at home before the paramedics arrive?

If my wife had a heart attack, and cooling would have saved her and the hospital make a decision whether it is worth the money or not. I think I'd go nuts. You can't equate life to money, we invented money, life invented us. What we are saying is, if some comapny of government that has billions of dollars have someone decide (without even being told about it) that my wifes life isnt worth the ten grand or so it might cost to save it, I'd take their bloody lives!

Money money money, if someone doesnt make out of it it doesnt happen, if someone loses out because of it it never happens. We need to find other ways of being rich.

What would really be great, is a portable version that could be administered by emt's.

There are doctors that make that decision all the time as to whether to rescutitate or not. For example, if the person is known to be wealthy, the doctor may find the procedure quite profitable. If on the other hand, the patient is poor, some doctors may not even bother as there are no financial rewards thereby. It is perhaps for most doctors or some a question of profitability or cost effectiveness.

My Father had an extreme asthma attack a couple months ago, and his heart stopped in the ambulance. They were able to get his heart pumping again, and it was decided to procede with the cooling therapy. From the time they started to warm him up again, and slowly take him off sedadation it was about a full 12 hours. He went from being totally unconsciouns to sitting up, and back to usually self by making jokes and teasing the nurses.

Unfortunately, a couple days ago - he had another extreme attack and again his heart stopped. We, of course, said yes to proceeding with the cooling therapy because the miraculous recovery. However, they started warming him up 24 hours ago, and he is not showing any visable signs of movement or connection to life. We are still waiting - hoping - and praying!!!