Each year approximately 400,000 people will suffer cardiac arrest in the United States. Cardiac arrest is a severe life-threatening condition in which the heart stops beating entirely for a period of time. During this time the heart is unable to circulate blood and oxygen throughout the body resulting in death without rapid and heroic intervention. Recent advances have improved the chance of survival for those that experience cardiac arrest including better CPR techniques, increased use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED), and early and aggressive in-hospital care.

Recognizing the need for a strong, rapid, and comprehensive response to cardiac arrest, BIDMC has developed a 'Cardiac Arrest Center' dedicated to the resuscitation and management of these critically ill patients. The Cardiac Arrest Center is a multi-disciplinary collaboration of emergency physicians, neurologists, cardiologists, intensivists, nurses, and technicians all dedicated to providing comprehensive care for victims of cardiac arrest. Our mission is to provide cutting-edge, optimal medical care, to provide education in cardiac arrest both to health care providers and the public, and to advance the science and research of cardiac arrest. While television portrays a somewhat optimistic outcome of victims who require CPR, the reality is that mortality rates remain extraordinarily high across the United States. We are dedicated to developing new techniques and management to not only save lives but save 'quality lives' by developing methods to improve not only resuscitation techniques but to also guard against brain injury. Our survivor stories are truly miraculous but we need more of them. Your support for our ongoing investigation in cardiac arrest is appreciated.

Nancy Cincotta is a 65 year old from Merrimack, New Hampshire who began her day on July 27th, 2011 just like any other; she had no idea that the events that were about to unfold would change her life forever. During the late morning hours of a warm summer day, Nancy began to feel a bit nauseous and as she describes it “I just didn’t feel right”. Her daughter Jennifer also noticed that she didn’t appear quite right. Suddenly, in the midst of a conversation with Jennifer, Nancy fell to the ground unconscious. Her quick-thinking daughter knew that her mother was in trouble, and called for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived to find Nancy conscious, but very ill appearing. Nancy’s last memory of that day is leaving behind her daughter as the ambulance rushed her to the local hospital. While in the Emergency Department of a local community hospital, Nancy’s condition rapidly deteriorated, and soon she suffered a cardiac arrest, a condition where the heart stops beating resulting in no blood flow to the brain and other organs. The staff there performed Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for several minutes, and was successful in their efforts to get her heart beating again on its own. Following her arrest, Nancy was flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for post cardiac arrest care.

Nancy arrived to the Emergency Department at BIDMC in critical condition, and was quickly evaluated by the post cardiac arrest consult team, led that day by Dr. Michael Cocchi:

“When Nancy arrived, it was immediately apparent to us that she was extremely ill, and that decisions needed to be made quickly in order to offer her the best possible chance for a positive outcome. With the information that was readily available about her cardiac arrest and from her clinical presentation, we elected to initiate our therapeutic hypothermia protocol as well as implement several other strategies with the goal of protecting her brain from any further damage that may have occurred during her cardiac arrest.”

Nancy was started on the therapeutic hypothermia protocol in the Emergency Department, and was soon admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. As part of the therapeutic hypothermia protocol, patients are routinely sedated in order to prevent them from shivering. Because of this, it would be more than two days before clinicians would be able to assess her brain function. Following completion of the protocol, and with her body temperature back to normal, the ICU team weaned Nancy off of sedatives with the hope that her neurologic function would return.

It would be nearly a full week and several obstacles later that Nancy awoke from her coma and appeared to recognize family members that were by her side. Less than 24 hours after that, she was taken off from the ventilator and was fully alert and oriented. Ms. Cincotta was discharged from BIDMC on August 10th in good condition with no signs of neurologic damage.

Though Nancy remembers nothing from her first 9 days at BIDMC, she feels very fortunate to have received such excellent care. Nancy states, “I just love it here, everyone is so nice and pleasant, and really seem to care about me.”

Her daughter Cindy is also very grateful:

“My mom has been followed by Dr. Michael Curry and the Liver Service at BIDMC for 3 years, and I knew that this is where I wanted her to be cared for. When we arrived in the ER, the staff was so informative, and explained everything that they were doing to help my mom. They really made sure that we understood exactly what was going on, and made us feel like we too were part of the team taking care of her. Not only did they make sure that Mom was well taken care of, they made sure that we were too.” Cindy looks forward now to getting her mom back home and getting life “back to normal” for her and her family.

On the day of her hospital discharge, Cindy was proud to report that her mom “looks better than she did before this all happened”.

The Cardiac Arrest Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is committed to providing exceptional clinical care of post-cardiac arrest patients, and Nancy’s story is just one of many that are a testament to that.