• Question: If people can be brought back to life after around a minute, why cant people be brought back to life after a longer perioid of time?

    Asked by Melon to Sarah on 19 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sarah Harris

      Sarah Harris answered on 19 Nov 2014:

      Because the longer someone is “dead” for, the more damage is caused. So you can survive around 3 minutes without oxygen before brain damage is permanent. If your heart stops beating for over a minute, oxygen won’t be delivered to your brain, or to your other muscles and organs, and the longer they go without the less likely they are to be revived.

Comments

  • Photo: Melon

    Melon commented on :

    Thanks, and how can people hold their breath for a long time and others cant?

  • Photo: Robert

    Robert commented on :

    @Melon There’s lots of factors which affect how long you can hold your breath for. Some people have a naturally higher lung capacity so can hold more air in their lungs becasue they are biggers. Others exercise more which will lead to you having a bigger heart and lungs so you can hold your bereath for longer. Other people can train themselves to hold their breath for longer. The best people at this are free divers who dive deep in teh sea with no scuba gear.