So there was this guy, he was 74 years old, bit over weight and having a massive MI (heart attack) and My crew mate and I had to transfer him from one hospital to a different one so that he could have stents fitted into his heart. To cut a long story short, he had suffered a stroke a while ago which meant he couldn't have the usual (blood) clot busting drugs as they may induce another stroke, . . . which as he is already in trouble with his heart wouldn't be the most sensible idea! So, . . here we are transporting him to another hospital. On arrival we take him through to the Cath lab where the procedure is to be performed, transfer him off the trolley onto the operating table (yes the team were scrubbed up and ready to roll) Then the Mr. in charge turns to us and said "Would you like to watch?" Good grief,! we went and sat behind the leaded glass and watched as he put local anaesthetic around the groin and then inserted a thin catheter up into a blood vessel straight into his heart! not only were we seeing it live but we had a view of the inside of the heart as the dye was pumped through, and could clearly see the blockage! The Mr. inflated a balloon in the area of the blockage then inserted a stent (small metal tube which looked like a roll of barbed wire!) this all took about 45 minutes then when the last lot of dye was pumped through we were able to see the whole hearts blood supply and no sign of the blockage at all. We were both amazed by the whole procedure, none the less because during the whole thing the Mr. had been talking to the patient who was completely awake....!! Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to view this life saving procedure and good luck Harry here's to a full recovery.
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