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Asked by The_Legitimate_Callux to Angela, Claire, Ian, Robert, Sarah on 16 Nov 2014.
Question: Could a human be brought back to life after all organs have stopped working in there body, using electricity? If so, how much electricity would have to be used?
- Keywords:
- body,
- death,
- electricity,
- life,
- organ
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Angela Stokes answered on 16 Nov 2014:
Hi there
That is almost what happens when you have a cardiac arrest and doctors use a defibrillator to ‘shock’ you back to life. The heart stops and so with no circulation your organs begin to stop. Of course any prolonged stoppage will result in death as once your brain is starved of oxygen for too long the area that controls your autonomic nervous system (that controls breathing and heartbeat automatically) will be ireparably damaged. I don’t know how much electricity is used exactly as the level can be altered.
- Keywords:
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Sarah Harris answered on 19 Nov 2014:
To continue from Angela’s answer, there is a limit as to how much electricity you would be able to use, as too much would irreversibly damage the muscle. I read somewhere that you need about 3-5 volts per centimetre of heart to bring someone back to life, but I’m not sure how accurate that is!
Comments
The_Legitimate_Callux commented on :
Does the level of electricity differ for different people?
Angela commented on :
Yes it does – have you seen on some medical dramas they use machines with paddles to restart the heart? They start with the lowest possible and then increase the dose very slowly until they get the result they want (hopefully) – problem is until you need help, no-one knows how much each person needs so it is trial and error