Sharjah's hospital saves visitor's life despite multiple heart stoppages caused by grief

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

In a remarkable medical feat, Kuwait Hospital in Sharjah, part of Emirates Health Services, has once again demonstrated excellence by saving the life of a septuagenarian Asian visitor who experienced multiple cardiac arrests.

The septuagenarian had travelled to the UAE to visit her daughter, who had tragically lost her hand in a car accident. Stricken with profound grief, the woman suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.

She was swiftly transported to the emergency department at Kuwait Hospital in Sharjah, where doctors promptly administered life-saving CPR. Subsequent medical tests and heart monitoring uncovered a severe heart attack, a rapid decline in circulation, and a sharp drop in blood pressure, necessitating urgent response and immediate medical intervention to preserve her life.

Dr Karim Mustafa, Cardiology Consultant and Head of the Emergency Department at Kuwait Hospital, stressed that the swift response and timely decision to administer clot-busting agents and transfer the patient to the catheterisation unit within two hours of symptom onset played a crucial role in saving her life. He highlighted that the rapid response across all Emirates Health Services facilities is part of a comprehensive strategy that prioritises patients and emphasises prompt management of heart attack cases, leading to higher recovery rates and reducing disability instances.

Dr Ahmed Khaled Alalawi, Internal Medicine Specialist at Kuwait Hospital in Sharjah, further explained that the patient's age compounded the severity of her condition upon arrival at the hospital, where she experienced multiple cardiac arrests.

Successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed, along with the administration of clot-busting agents and placement on a ventilator before transferring her to the intensive care unit, where she continued on mechanical ventilation.

The following day, she began to recover, showing responses by moving her hands and opening her eyes. She was successfully taken off the ventilator due to her regained consciousness and was then transferred to the hospital's internal medicine department.