Word: heart
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...high enough doses, Demerol can slow respiration almost to the point of suffocation, which can lead to sudden death by depriving the heart of oxygen, according to Dr. Douglas Zipes, a cardiologist at Indiana University and past president of the American College of Cardiology. Demerol can also cause a sudden stoppage of the heart in patients who are dehydrated. The drug causes blood vessels to dilate, or expand, and dehydration would impede this stretching, leading to a dangerous drop in blood pressure and blackout, which can cause sudden death...
When EMTs arrived at the Holmby Hills mansion where Jackson had collapsed, they would have had a series of quick-fire decisions to make, based on little information. Had Jackson suffered a heart attack? A drug overdose? A stress-related event? Did his condition require paddles or a syringe of epinephrine...
...case of either a heart attack or cardiac arrest - a heart attack can also cause cardiac arrest - EMTs' initial response is to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in order to keep blood flowing. According to the 911 tapes from Jackson's case, his physician was "pumping his chest." That physician and the EMT team that brought Jackson to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center attempted to resuscitate him for more than an hour, according to a statement issued by the hospital. Typically, however, there is only a four- to six-minute window of opportunity to revive a patient in cardiac arrest...
...heart in cardiac arrest, says Zipes, "looks like a bag of squiggly worms, totally uncoordinated, disorganized, with no effective pumping." In a normal heart, the pumping chambers beat 70 times a minute or so, while an organ in cardiac arrest can spasm anywhere from 400 to 600 times per minute. Unless a regular rhythm can be restored, brain death and ultimately death can result...
...what measures the emergency workers took to save Jackson, but if they had determined that he suffered from cardiac arrest triggered by an overdose of narcotics, they would have likely used a shot of naloxone, a drug that counteracts opioid overdose, to get the brain back online and the heart beating again, says Connie Meyer, an EMS captain in Johnson County, Kans. In cases where it's not clear whether narcotics are involved - cardiac arrest may be caused by a wide range of factors, including stress - some EMTs will use epinephrine, a shot of adrenaline that jump-starts the heart...