“Everything started in the morning,” recalls Yair Millerman, 42, a math teacher from Pardes Hanna. “I woke up and felt pressure in my chest and shortness of breath, and I started to sweat. I knew immediately that something bad was happening to me and I called 911,” he said.
The ambulance team who arrived on the scene did an ECG, which showed an acute myocardial infarction. The team called the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center right away to inform them that they were on the way to the hospital.
“Based on the way the ambulance team described Yair’s condition, we understood that he was coming with a myocardial infarction and would need catheterization,” said Dr. Yaniv Levy, a senior physician in the Cardiology Division. “The team also reported that while on the way, there were signs of life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias, and Yair required CPR and defibrillation. His condition continued to deteriorate, his heart actually stopped beating, and he was attached to an external cardiac massage device, without which he would have been defined as dead.”
The Cardiology Division staff who treated Yair. From right to left: Orit Nachum, Dr. Yaniv Levy, Rinat Malka, Yair Millerman, Prof. Ariel Roguin and Suleman Hatar in the Catheterization Room at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center
The Cardiology Division Director at Hillel Yaffe, Prof. Ariel Roguin, along with Dr. Yaniv Levy, performed the complex catheterization while Yair had no pulse and while CPR was being performed. After a tremendous and complex effort, they were able to find the blocked artery, open it and re-establish the pulse. Yair was ventilated and transferred to the ICCU. After constant, vigilant and dedicated observation, he woke up and regained full consciousness, without any neurological damage and almost normal heart function.
“Yair came to us lifeless and got his life back in the catheterization room,” said Prof. Roguin. “There have been very few cases in my professional life, if any, in which I was able to bring a person in that kind of condition back to life, particularly in light of the fact that he suffered no neurological or coronary damage. It's a medical miracle.” Prof. Roguin further added that opening the blocked artery quickly is extremely important and therefore the ambulance team worked with great expertise, both during the diagnosis and in the quick and direct referral to the catheterization room. “Time is a critical component here, as every minute matters and can prevent necrosis and scarring of the heart muscle.”
Yair was discharged to his home grateful to both the ambulance team and staff of the Cardiology Division at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center.
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