Carrie Fisher in Intensive Care after London LA flight

[topgas]

Carried Fisher reported to have suffered cardiac arrest towards the end of a London to LA flight and is now in Critical Care.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/dec/23/carrie-fisher-heart-attack-london-la-flight

Let's hope for a good outcome

[F-16GUY]

May the force be with her and ensure her speedy recovery.

[CRayner]

It took them thirty minutes to get her pulse back according to the reports. Sadly such events rarely end in decent brain function. I fear she may now be on her way to organ donation. I hope not.

[lomapaseo]

One needs to define "pulse" e.g. flat-line, V-fib, A-fib, dropped-extra beats, etc.

I've had them all except flat lining .... but I'm not sure about brain functioning

[CRayner]

Pulse is a palpable pressure wave in the arterial system indicative of effective operation of the cardiac pump. It is a good proxy for adequate circulation of the blood. Patients whose circulation fails tend to develop anoxic brain damage in a few minutes. The various cardiac electromechanical disorders mentioned by lompaseo may or may not be associated with circulatory collapse. Although 'flatline' aka asystole always and ventricular fibrillation almost always results in death if nobody intervenes.

I don't know for sure, but I have officiated at enough cardiac arrests to suspect that those involved were pretty desperate to have continued cpr for thirty minutes. What we don't know is how long she was in circulatory arrest before cpr was started. The fact that it went on for so long suggests to me that her condition is parlous. Especially since she's been admitted to ICU. I wish her well, but I fear the worst.

[PAXboy]

One might surmise the folks on board would want to hand her over to ambulance ground staff in some sort of working order. If the reports are accurate - then there is not much to be said other than, going out rapidly whilst in First Class?

[vctenderness]

I crossed the Atlantic on QE2 and her father, Eddie Fisher, was on board. We became quite friendly. It was amazing to chat with someone who had married some of the worlds most famous women including, Carrie's mother, Debbie Reynolds.

Hope she recovers soon.

[Heathrow Harry]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38432360 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38432360Carrie)

Carrie (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38432360Carrie) Fisher 'stable' after cardiac arrest


25 December 201

Actress Carrie Fisher is in stable condition after suffering a cardiac arrest on Friday, her mother says.

Fisher, 60, who played Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars, is in the intensive care unit of a Los Angeles hospital. She had heart problems during a flight from London to Los Angeles, and passengers attempted to revive her with CPR.

Her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, said on Twitter: (https://twitter.com/DebbieReynolds1/status/813112672002723841) "Carrie is in stable condition. If there is a change, we will share it. For all her fans & friends. I thank you for your prayers & good wishes."

The cardiac arrest happened about 15 minutes before the plane landed in LA, celebrity news website TMZ reported. A medic who was travelling on the plane administered CPR.
Paramedics then spent a further 15 minutes administering more CPR to Fisher before getting a pulse, TMZ said.

[Helol]

Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher dies - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38446753)

[PAXboy]

When a person has experienced a major cardiac event, it is not unusual for them to be stable (often awake and lucid) diring the next next 36 hours but there is a very high risk that a second event will arrive with 72 hours of the first. It happens all the time. I did not say this at the time as it might seem unkind to some. But the facts remain that major cardiac events that happen away from expert medical help do not usually have the happy outcome that you see on TV and in the movies.

[Old Nic]

Very Sad, though if it took 15 minutes to restart her heart, I doubt there was much of Carrie left to save.

[Heathrow Harry]

As long as you keep pumping away (our medic does it to the beat of "Another one bites the dust" but then she's ... tough) you can keep the blood moving through the brain - that's the standard drill before someone can get to you with a defibrallator for example.........

[PAXboy]

I'm told that another rhythm is The Bee Gees, 'Stayin Alive'. A nephew of mine is an ambulance technician and (when this was first reported on Saturday I was with him) I asked how many folks they could rescue from a major cardiac event. "1 in 10" is apparently a good rule of thumb. Some events are small but too much time elapses, some are so big that even having it IN a hospital will not save the person.

The movies and TV drama's a have a lot to answer for in the expectations of what can be done.

[Heathrow Harry]

I think if they can get a defib to you within 15 minutes it goes up to 1 in 3

[PAXboy]

The defib device is for one kind of failure, as lomapaseo says, there are many kinds of heart failure. Each of the four chambers can develop a problem, the many valves can fail and of course the entire heart can fail in different ways.

It is awful for the family that Carrie's mother has followed her but not unusual. In my work, I have seen this several times.