Longest cardiac arrest
Who
Roberto
Where
Italy ()
When

The longest time spent in cardiac arrest – with full neurological recovery – is 8 hours 42 minutes in the case of a 31-year-old mountain climber identified only as "Roberto", who required medical assistance during his attempt to climb the face of Marmolada in the Italian Dolomites on 26 August 2017. As the ambient temperature dropped to 0°C (32°F), Roberto lost consciousness and had to be helicoptered to safety. At 7:48 p.m., the helicopter medics dispatched to his aid recorded his hypothermic cardiac arrest (no pulse); revival efforts were continued as he was transferred to hospital, where, at 4.30 a.m., with the help of extracorporeal life support, his heart rhythm finally returned to normal.


The otherwise-healthy Roberto, and his climbing partner "Alessandro", were caught off-guard by a freezing summer thunderstorm while attempting to climb Marmolada (3,343 m; 11,000 ft), the highest peak in the Dolomites. While Alessandro clambered to safety, Roberto became trapped by a freezing waterfall and experienced hypothermic cardiac arrest. A helicopter rescue team winched him from the face of the mountain before beginning resuscitation efforts; Roberto remained unresponsive to the physicians manoeuvres - including manual CPR and electrical defibrillation - but these were continued as the helicopter flew him to the Hospital of Belluno. From there, he was driven by ambulance to Treviso, where he was placed on extracorporeal life-support and warmed until his cardiac rhythm went from asystole to ventricular fibrillation. One last electrical shock returned the heart to a normal sinus rhythm, after a total time in cardiac arrest of nearly 9 hours. Three months and 10 days later, Roberto was discharged, with mild amnesia the only lasting souvenir of his experience.