Pocono News Section

Advanced Cooling Therapy Saves Man's Life

Advanced Cooling Therapy Saves Man's Life - Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 04:04AM EST

Reported by: Jeremy Deebel
Thursday May 27 2010
A serious heart attack threatened 68-year-old John Martz with death.

Now, the Northumberland County resident has a new lease on life, thanks- in part- to the ARCTIC program at Geisinger Medical Center.

Only through the recollection of others does John Martz have any memory of the heart attack he suffered while playing racquetball with friends back in March.

Martz recalled, "They told me that I hit a shot in the back court and just went down like a dishrag."

The events that followed were nothing short of a miracle.

Martz continued, "Luckily for me, a Geisinger trauma nurse coincidentally was upstairs exercising."

The nurse performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

Defibrillators were used five times to restart John's heart.

Then the ARCTIC program was initiated.

ARCTIC stands for Advanced Rescucitation Cooling Therapies In Cardiac arrest.

Basically, it's an advanced system for lowering a patient's body temperature to prevent damage to brain cells.

And it has been a huge success over the 15 months it's been used at Geisinger.

Dr. Douglas Kupas explained, "These are people that, 10 or 15 years ago, the vast majority would have died. They are people who are in a coma after they've had a cardiac arrest."

At $5,000 to $6,000 apiece, the cooling units are relatively inexpensive.

Geisinger doctors tell us there are five machines ready for use at different locations throughout the medical center.

Dr. Kupas believes without the combination of CPR, defibrillators, and cooling therapy- John Martz would not be a healthy 68-year-old man today.

He noted, "If any of those links in the chain is weak, if anywhere along the line it falls apart, then the chance of survival is virtually zero."

Martz added, "I just feel that I'm probably the luckiest person on the face of the Earth right now. Even at my age, I still love to play competitive sports. They gave me a second chance at it and I'm going to live each day to the fullest, believe me."

John Martz tells us he feels so good, he's heading up to Canada for a fishing trip next week.