I am pressing on his chest ..13, 14, 15.. Tony gives him two breaths by squeezing the Ambubag. Then I continue with the chest compressions 1, 2, 3, 4,.... My arms are aching. My breathing is fast. My heart is pounding hard. Only if I could share my breaths and my heart beats with him! We are doing CPR on an 80 year old man whose heart has just stopped beating. He had a heart surgery four days ago. He recovered pretty well from the surgery until this morning when his blood oxygen level started to fall. We put him in the High Dependency Unit where nurses can monitor him around the clock. We gave him supplemental oxygen with nasal CPAP. Half an hour ago, he started being very agitated and pulling off all the cables attached to him and more importantly his supplemental oxygen. We were trying our best to calm him down in vain. Without enough Oxygen for a few minutes, his ailing heart ceased to beat. I activated the Arrest Team. It is 3 o’clock in the morning. Everybody arrives in 2 minutes and started doing their job to save this old man’s life. We put an endotracheal tube to deliver oxygen into his lungs more efficiently. We gave him adrenaline through his veins to augment the blood supply to his vital organs. We gave him chest compressions and ventilations to help his failing lung and heart. His heart starts beating but in a very ineffective rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. We try to convert it into a more effective rhythm by giving him an electric shock. The first shock does not work. Then came the second shock – no response. We increase the shock energy and give the third shock. To our great relief, the wave on the ECG monitor changes to a normal rhythm. We dare not breathe for a moment as that change in rhythm can be only transient. This time we (I’d rather say the patient) are lucky – the heart keeps beating in normal rhythm. We are all tired but happy. We are savouring the joy which can only be understood by those who have saved people’s lives with their own hands. The patient needs to be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit where he will be monitored closely and treated accordingly. We have saved a person’s life with great difficulty. First of all, we operated on his failing heart with the hope of prolonging his life. The operation needed a lot of manpower and material resources. After the operation, he had to stay in the Intensive Care Unit for two days, which again needed a great deal of resources both human and material. This person’s life is so dear to us and even more to his beloved family. We all are trying to save one person’s life by doing our best and it needs a lot of effort and resources.
However, in some places some people are trying their best to destroy people’s lives!! And it is easy for them – they just need to pull a trigger or push a button. They are trying to destroy as many lives as efficiently as possible. Some do it for their country; some do it for the religion; some do it out of vengeance; some do it just for fun. No matter what the purpose is, the result is the same – somebody’s life destroyed. That person must surely have wanted to live. That person must have had beloved ones who would languish at his death. And above all, that person was a human being like us. It is not fair – it is so difficult to save a life but so ridiculously easy to destroy one. It has been happening to humanity since the dawn of civilization. It is the reality and that reality is so painful for me to face. What can we do to stop this? Or are we just condemned to face this painful truth?
However, in some places some people are trying their best to destroy people’s lives!! And it is easy for them – they just need to pull a trigger or push a button. They are trying to destroy as many lives as efficiently as possible. Some do it for their country; some do it for the religion; some do it out of vengeance; some do it just for fun. No matter what the purpose is, the result is the same – somebody’s life destroyed. That person must surely have wanted to live. That person must have had beloved ones who would languish at his death. And above all, that person was a human being like us. It is not fair – it is so difficult to save a life but so ridiculously easy to destroy one. It has been happening to humanity since the dawn of civilization. It is the reality and that reality is so painful for me to face. What can we do to stop this? Or are we just condemned to face this painful truth?
