RWarehall: If one has a heart attack, they will
always put them in an ICU for constant monitoring. Standard procedure. It means nothing with regards to her condition.
Even use of a ventilator is fairly common. Because it "breathes for them", it helps the body relax. Heart attacks are often accompanied by fluid build-up and this can impair lung function. They will use one whenever the body seems to be having any difficulty bringing enough oxygen in on its own. More important would be what percentage of breathing the ventilator is performing. This does not necessarily relate at all to brain damage. It's more likely related to the fluid build-up.
I've had family go through this before and I've asked a lot of questions...
Tarm: I really hope you're right.
It's the 15 minutes of CPR on the plane and the other 15 minutes afterwards before they got a pulse that worries me.
People have lived through that without any ill effects but the odds are low.
I'm not worried about the time she was receiving CPR, the question is how long before the CPR was started if she was, in fact, not breathing. At this point, we cannot be sure about the reliability of any information. HIPAA laws prevent anyone in the medical community from discussing this, so the question is how reliable the information is coming from casual observers or "leakers who should know better". Sad to say, but some people might be more interested in their "5 minutes of fame" than accuracy.
We can just hope for the best!
Todd Fisher, her brother, is quoted with the following:
...many details about her condition or what caused the medical emergency are unknown, and much of what had been reported was speculation.
"We have to wait and be patient," he said. "We have so little information ourselves."
