Girl¡¦s heartbeat paused for about 30 minutes, and rescued in the Conde São Januário Central Hospital¡¦s Emergency Room.

Mr. Leong, the girl¡¦s elder brother

Kuok Cheong U

Lei Sio Peng (left side) and Chang Tam Fei

(Macau Daily News) Recently, a young girl fainted at the school¡¦s athletic meets, and her heart stopped beating for about half an hour, she was then immediately transported from the island to Conde São Januário Central Hospital (CHCSJ). After a long 30 hours of meticulous efforts by the professional medical teams at the ER and ICU, the girl was miraculously saved from the rim of death, and regained consciousness. Family members and medical staff jumped up ecstatically, and the lengthy efficient process of cardiopulmonary resuscitation should equally be commended.

Cardiac arrest for about half an hour

According to Kuok Cheong U, Director of the Conde São Januário Central Hospital, Dr. Lei Sio Peng, an internal medicine consultant of the intensive care unit, and Dr. Chang Tam Fei, the emergency room specialist, elaborated the incident in detail: An 18-year old female patient was admitted to the hospital at around 5:00 p.m. on the 1^st of the month. The report indicated that the girl¡¦s heartbeat had temporarily stopped at her school¡¦s athletic meets. The death rate is relatively high when patients suffered from cardiac arrest outside of a hospital, and in this particular case, the girl was very fortunate to have the Red Cross personnel performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her. She was found no signs of life upon arrival at the hospital, and estimated that her heart might have been paused for about 20 minutes. Members of the ER applied vigorous rescue efforts for ten minutes until the girl regained heartbeats, and after a series of critical treatments, including hypothermia, then, in the night before, she finally repossessed consciousness. With the following thirty long hours of stressful struggling, the frontline medical staff successfully recaptured the girl¡¦s precious life from the rim of death and they were very much inspired by this.

To practice self-saving and saving others with first aid skill

As of yesterday, the girl was in stable condition, and able to recognize her family members, classmates and teachers, and able to eat on her own. Last night, she might be transferred from ICU to the cardiology department for further observation, and will be discharged when fully recovered. It was crucial that timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, during transporting the girl to the hospital. Not long ago, someone collapsed suddenly inside the Shek Pai Wan health center, and the staff on duty applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and sent the patient to the hospital for further treatments; and in other incidents, numerous Marathon runners were also saved by cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The Health Bureau persists in high emphasis on publicity and education, to provide training to the Red Cross, schools and institutions, so as to encourage residents to learn saving themselves as well as saving others.

Mr. Leong, the girl¡¦s elder brother, revealed that his sister had regular exercises and without any illnesses. That day was her school¡¦s athletic meets, and his sister fainted after completing a 4 X 100 meters relay race. Mr. Leong, and his mother were almost collapsed when the bad news reached them, and rushed to the hospital immediately. To their great relief, his sister was resuscitated by the professional medical crew. The entire family expressed their deepest gratitude to all employees of the CHCSJ and the tremendous assistance received from the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau.