Indian Doctor Revived Clinically Dead Man, Says His Method Gaining Popularity In UK

In 2020, after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, doctors and medical professionals emerged as 'frontline soldiers' and 'coronavirus warriors'. Doctors across the globe not only saved people from the lethal virus but also protected them from additional illnesses that came with it. In one such instance, a man named Sarbjit Singh, who was clinically dead for 45 minutes, was resuscitated by doctors in the UK after he went into cardiac arrest following a coronavirus infection in November 2020.

Mr Singh survived and recently completed a gruelling 5,000-metre Wolf Run in the forests of Leicestershire. Mr Singh, who recently celebrated his 42nd birthday, was also able to see the birth of his third child. He was saved miraculously using a spontaneous technique used by Dr Arijit Ghosh.

Dr Ghosh, a cardiologist, suggested a pioneering technique he had read about a few weeks earlier called double sequential external defibrillation. The treatment was used as a "last resort in this case to save a life," he told NDTV.

The doctor explained that the technique involves "using two defibrillators, placing one on the patient's front and one on the back and shocking in quick succession at maximum dose".

Mr Ghosh said the use of double sequential external defibrillation is better than single defibrillation.

Cardiac defibrillation is done when transthoracic electrical current is administered to a person experiencing one of the two lethal ventricular dysrhythmias, ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT), meanwhile, in double sequential external defibrillation involves the uses of two defibrillators.

After reviving his heart, the patient, Mr Singh was still seriously unwell. He underwent surgery to remove a blood clot and was placed in an induced coma after suffering significant organ damage. After 2 months, he walked back home and recovered. Indeed, Mr Singh's recovery was beyond a miracle.

Mr Singh also had comorbidities including diabetes and hypertension.

After the success of Mr Singh's case, doctors in the UK have adopted this technique as protocol. In November 2022, The New England Journal of Medicine also published an article about 'Defibrillation Strategies for Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation'. The study said, "Double sequential external defibrillation (DSED; rapid sequential shocks from two defibrillators) and vector-change (VC) defibrillation (switching defibrillation pads to an anterior-posterior position) have been proposed as defibrillation strategies to improve outcomes in patients with refractory ventricular fibrillation."

When asked Dr Ghosh if the double sequential external defibrillation technique will come to India, Dr Ghosh said that he is trying to spread awareness about this pioneering technique by conducting several webinars and discussions. He hopes to bring about the change in the medical fraternity.