Doctor recounts frantic 40-minute bid to save James Gandolfini after teen son calls for help

New York Post ^ | June 20, 2013

[nickcarraway]

Doctors in Italy battled for 40 minutes to save the life of "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini after the actor's 13-year-old son called for help, according to new reports.

[CityCenter]

They did this for my brother-in-law who passed away at the age of 49 from a heart attack, worked on him for almost an hour.

[kagnew]

I remember when a code was called on a young girl who had juvenile diabetes, at a hospital where I worked, she was totally blue, in fact I thought it was a child at first and we did CPR on her for an hour and a half. We got her back, but her blood sugar was over 900mg/ml. I asked her doctor what would be the chances of her making it with decreased oxygen to the brain for so long and then the high blood sugar, he told me, we will just have to wait to see, but that it didn’t look good. This was the beginning of December 1978. That girl walked out of the hospital before Christmas and NO BRAIN DAMAGE! That was one heck of a miracle of GOD as far as I’m concerned and I’m just glad that I was there to see it. Yes, until the doctor calls it, you keep doing CPR for how ever long.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Howard Winkler

Is he related to Henry Winkler?

[dragnet2]

It was nothing personal and your work is no doubt very commendable. But the fact remains, it's certainly not what most get when compared to the high levels of medical care celebrities, those in Congress and the wealthy receive.

This is basically indisputable.

Take care doc!

[A.A. Cunningham]

Your(sic) another who thinks celebrities and the superwealthy are afford(sic) the same exact level of medical effort, care and treatment as everyone else? (sic)

That's a statement not a question.

If you wanted to ask a question you should have worded it as follows:

You're another who thinks celebrities and the superwealthy are afforded the same exact level of medical effort, care and treatment as everyone else, aren't you?

or

Are you another who thinks celebrities and the superwealthy are afforded the same exact level of medical effort, care and treatment as everyone else?

Don't confuse an emotive statement with a question.

[dragnet2]

When you’re able to type 95+ words a minute, sometimes mistakes are made. Even voice recognition I use isn’t perfect.

Ya still got the message Mr. ham, so stop whining and crying about typos and grammar.

lol...

[SamAdams76]

I was hooked on the show, but I hated and loathed the characters..a scum TV show about scum people...

Well it wouldn't be much of a hit otherwise, now would it?

Imagine a TV show about the mafia that was scripted like a "Leave It To Beaver" show....

Tony Soprano: "Gee whiz Paulie, those police officers sure were polite when they found all those firearms under our pool table"

Paulie Walnuts: "Darn tootin' Tony, I sure was hoping they wouldn't know to look under there. I was hoping they would just bust up our card game and let us go home. By the way, what was up with Big Pussy? He took off out of here like a bat out of hell when those fellas showed up!"

Tony Soprano: "You got that right. I was thinking maybe Big Pussy had one too many cannoli at breakfast this morning and was looking for a rest room, if you catch my drift."

Paulie and Tony together: "Tee hee, tee hee, tee hee." (Fade to applause and commercial break)

[Winstons Julia]

How can I evade a question you didn’t ask me? And why would I answer a question that has nothing to do with the discussion? You are trying to add things now, to the discussion, (I think) because you know you are wrong.

Here’s the comment I responded to:

“Would they do the same for a non-celebrity?”

The correct answer to this is, yes...they would.

In fact, in the USA, a patient ... Joe Jackballs, whomever...may likely get BETTER treatment than in Italy. (I’m not brushed up on the efficiency and quality of their health system.)

I’m going to make an attempt to educate you about a code blue situation.

This happens when a patient’s breathing stops or his/her heart is in a fatal rhythm...

In the area where I live ... there is no special hospital for the Congressman. All of the hospitals are open to everyone. There’s no “extra super special care hospital” for the hoi polloi. Everyone goes to the same ones. The one I worked at, though, was the one with the advanced trauma center. That meant that we got all the critical patients.

Now ... paramedics in the field see every patient as equal. It doesn’t matter if they are transporting you out of the hood ... or out of the new development of 400,000$ homes. If you are a code blue ... you are a code blue and the same treatment is begun on you in the field and on the ride to the hospital.

While you are in the ambulance, at the ER...a “code blue - ETA 10 minutes” is called on the overhead speakers. This sets in motion a chain of events that is kind of like a ballet in its precision. If you have a more minor patient in the room that you use for codes...you move that patient to another room. If that patient is the Congressman and he has a broken leg ... he WILL find himself in another room or even in the hallway (if the ER is full) so that the code blue patient can be in the special room...

All sorts of equipment arrives... moving x ray machines...etc... to deal with the patient and try to get him/her revived...stabilized....diagnosed...its a flurry of activity while they administer drugs quickly .... sometimes administer shocks...

In the meantime, family who arrives is shown to a special room. Pastoral care has probably been called. Information about the patient is asked so that the ER can determine if the patient has a medical record on file and a chart can be generated and a computer account made to record everything done and request other things that need to be done.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Joe Jackballs or Congressman Miller... this is how it goes down.

Sometimes it ends there, in the ER, and its very sad for all involved. What’s particularly devastating is a pediatric code blue. No one likes it when anyone dies. The family will be tenderly and courteously informed by the doctor. Pastoral care will remain and even ideally get ahold of a patient’s OWN clergy so that they can come to the hospital and provide more personal counseling.

The family will be gently led back to the code room and nurses will be present while the primary family member (usually spouse) comes to terms with the finality of the moment.

The paramedics, sometimes, have not left the ER by the time a time of death has been pronounced. They sometimes take it pretty hard...feeling like they were the frontline ... and maybe they failed. (Even though they’ve done everything they could and by the book ... the book that is the same for everyone.)

If a patient is stabilized he/she may go to the cath lab or even to open heart surgery very quickly. The hospital doesn’t say, “Show me your Gold Mastercard before we’ll give you your life-saving surgery.”

Ideally...then the patient goes to intensive care where they continue to heal.

Regardless of your ability to pay ... you are treated. The hospital will accept you making payments on your treatment even if they are 20 bucks a week.

So -

Would they do the same for a non-celebrity?

Yes. The answer is YES. Period.

[dragnet2]

It was a yes no question.

Beware of evasive wordy replies...lol

[dragnet2]

You think celebrities, Congress, politicians and the super-wealthy are afforded the same exact level of medical effort, medical care and medical treatment as everyone else? Yes or no?

This isn't complex and does not require a wordy reply.

Thanks Julia!

[Winstons Julia]

I find your tagline ironic.

[dragnet2]

It’s ironic because you clearly defined it el perfecto!

See ya Julia!

[Winstons Julia]

It’s a troll, I think.

[rhoda_penmark]

Really - who actually thinks that drunken doper David Crosby was ever at the top of the liver recipients list?

[fatnotlazy]

Wow! Indeed, that was a miracle.

I believe after about 20 minutes, odds are the brain damage would be severe. I don’t know how long I was out each time, but today, I have problems with balance and motor skills. The cerebellum is shot.

But no complaints really, considering the alternative. God has been a lot better to me than I ever was to Him.

[dragnet2]

OK...I give up....Everyone in the U.S. is afforded the same exact high level, top shelf medical care and medical treatment as those in Congress, the rich, and celebrities receive..You bet.. Absolutely!

What was I thinking?

I should be ashamed for thinking otherwise...

[rhoda_penmark]

I worked a number of years in hospitals and when we had “VIP” patients they were unofficially identified as such. Higher level employees with the most experience were assigned to care for them/perform their x-rays, etc.

[A.A. Cunningham]

You went to public school didn’t you, madame?

[A.A. Cunningham]

What claim to fame/wealth did that little girl who got a new set of lungs have?

[dragnet2]

Alright, I admitted it already......Everyone in the U.S. is afforded the same exact high level, top shelf medical care and medical treatment as those in Congress, the rich, and celebrities receive..You bet.. Absolutely!

What was I thinking?

I should be ashamed for thinking otherwise...

You’re a genius Mr. ham...Can’t fool you guys!

You tell um all!