*Breaking- Holbrooke's condition upgraded to stable-NBC

[elleng]

@BreakingNews: Update: Richard Holbrooke's condition upgraded to stable after surgery for torn aorta - NBC

[jaxx]

1. That's very good news.

[Gin]

3. good news....very serious problem....get well sir.

[dmkinsey]

2. How'd he get the torn aorta anyway?

Was he involved in a crash?

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Most likely he had a weakness in the artery

that became a little bag

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aortic_aneurysm

Without readying any or not knowing much about the story this is my best guess.

And he is one of the luckiest people alive right now. They are usually lethal.

[malaise]

9. He's had severe vascular problems for some time

and those long flights sure aren't helping.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Nope, most likely he'll warm a desk or simply retire

[malaise]

4. He's lucky

I was at a function today and two medical doctors were arguing about his condition.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Oh he is very lucky

most people die from this.

That is unless they are near the hospital and the tear does not spectacularly fail.

[elleng]

12. Lucky that he was at the office, Foggy Bottom, State Dept, VERY near GWHosp.

[rainbow4321]

14. No kidding...and not in some remote place

in the mountains/deserts of the Middle East.
I know he would have had access to military care there but how quickly would he have gotten to where he needed to be...

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Depends where

in Kabul, less than thirty minutes by air ambulance to a military trauma facility that should have thoracic surgeons and the capabilities to handle this, assuming people noticed he was that sick.

ME... if he was in Israel, anywhere in the country is thirty minutes by air ambulance and trauma centers are very much up to standards.

Europe has very high standards of care and trauma systems as well, with both ground and air ambulances too.

Some other places, we would be getting a casket back. Though Cairo has one or two very good facilities too as well as Aman.

Hell in Mexico there are at least ten private hospitals and at least five trauma centers in the DF that can handle this too.

It is pretty much a myth that we only have this care.

[Lefta Dissenter]

5. oh, please, please, please... (n/t)

[spanone]

6. great news!

r

[OHdem10]

8. continue to get well, Mr Ambassador.

[SoCalDem]

13. He's a VERY lucky man

If this had happened to him in a different place..like maybe Afghanistan, he'd probably be dead..

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. If this was the backcountry

from Kabul the AF Base is half an hour away by air ambulance and they have a front line medical center with thoracic surgeons that handle this all the time, from high speed lead. They also get plenty of practice. What those army and AF surgeons would hate is having to practice VIP medicine.

Now in the real isolated areas, yep you got a point, but that is not where diplomats thread, just 20 something privates on patrol, and they still can get to a medical facility within forty five minutes average. That is the standard for MEDEVAC now.

[SoCalDem]

17. If the people he was with recognized the urgency of it

Men are notorious for taking a wait & see approach..and many pay with their lives.

I'm glad he survived.. Sometimes it's just Kismet..

He's very very lucky:)

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Oh trust me it takes recognizing that he is that sick

and in this particular case that the tear is relatively small and does not spectacularly fail before the OR. When they do... 30 second you check out.

And men stubborn? Really... I got my stories... but also of older female patients who are on true denial of the seriousness of their medical condition. Hell... I am stubborn too. Not proud to say it, but I am.

[SoCalDem]

21. Me too.. I am WAY past due for checkups..but I am lazy

shame on me.. I go to my eye doctor religiously though:)

he doesn;t make me strip down or weigh me :rofl:

[amborin]

18. please

read up on dissections

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. When those happen you do not reach Walter Read

or Washington Medical either.

And there is no paramedic team that can stop that. Though you can bet your ass on the CPR.

IF these things fail before you get to the OR... it is 30 seconds... tops

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Oh and here is what is says

which I already knew from EMS


Aortic dissections resulting in rupture have an 80% mortality rate, and 50% of patients die before they even reach the hospital. If the dissection reaches 6 cm, the patient must be taken for emergency surgery.<2>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aortic_dissection

You think a front line TRAUMA CENTER is not equipped to handle this? Or that they do not have trauma surgeons? They handle Cardiac Tamponades and cardiac tears REGULARLY in the military. And if you have a failure, read 6 cm or larger tear... you can do all the CPR you want... your patient is pretty much dead within thirty seconds or less.

[jwirr]

22. Good news.