NYC paramedics use new treatment for cardiac arrest

New York City paramedics have begun to treat cardiac arrest victims with a procedure that cools the body with cold intravenous fluids to preserve muscle, tissue and neurological functions - all while the patient is in the ambulance.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and fire department officials said Monday that the procedure - which is called hypothermia therapy and chills the body from a normal temperature of 98.6 degrees to as low as 89.6 degrees - has been proven to slow the damage of cardiac arrest on the body.

Hospitals in many other cities nationwide use the cooling therapy, but only a few municipalities are administering it in the field, said Dr. David Prezant, the fire department's chief medical officer.

And New York is believed to be the first major city to apply hypothermia therapy out in the field to patients who are still in cardiac arrest. Other cities typically do it after resuscitation, once the patient has a pulse, Prezant said. - AP