Dead for 40 Minutes: Australian Man Revived with New Machine After Heart Attack (Video)

A Victorian man who was clinically dead for 40 minutes was brought back to life with a new machine that's located in only one hospital in Australia. The new resuscitation technique has the potential to make a huge impact in patients that suffer from heart attacks.

The 39-year-old man, named Colin Fiedler, is extremely lucky. He's just one of three cardiac patients that were brought back with the new machine. Each of the patients was dead between 40 and 60 minutes at The Alfred hospital located in Melbourne, Victoria. By using two new techniques, though, doctors were able to revive the patients.

The new techniques are actually part of two new machines. One is a mechanical CPR machine, known as AutoPulse, which The Alfred is currently testing. The machine itself performs constant chest compressions, which allows the heart to keep beating. At the same time another machine, known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), keeps the oxygen and blood flowing to the patient's brain and vital organs--a crucial component to prevent brain damage after the patient awakens. The heart and lung machine is normally used in theatre, but this new rendition of it is portable.

Yet these machines don't only have the ability to revive patients after minutes of being dead. They also have the potential to free up medical personnel so that they can diagnose the cause of a cardiac arrest and treat it. While they're working, the machines can keep blood and oxygen flowing to the patient and therefore allow them to potentially be revived.

Fiedler's particular tale, though, could have had a much sadder ending. While he was being assisted, he chose to be brought to The Alfred, which probably saved his life.

"For some reason, I said The Alfred, which is pretty lucky because they are the only one that has it," said Fiedler in an interview with News.com.au.

Currently, the mechanical chest compression device for CPR is only available in three of The Alfred's ambulances. However, the hospital plans to expand that to include more since the manufacturer is providing them with more devices.

"The results of this trial could see the role of ECMO expanded into other hospitals as well as local ambulance crews where a patient could receive treatment pre-hospital, giving physicians enough time to diagnose their cardiac condition," said Senior intensive care physician, Steven Bernard, in a news release from the hospital.

Since his incident, Fiedler has quit smoking and has turned over a new leaf health-wise. He's living a more active lifestyle in order to prevent future heart attacks.

Want to see the machine in action? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.