ReachHigher – Dr. med. Michael Fries gives lecture on “Treatment Options After Cardiac Arrest”

On Thursday, October 27, 2022, an edition of the ReachHigher lecture series featuring Dr. med. Michael Fries was held in the auditorium of the UMFST-UMCH Campus in Hamburg. The event was titled “Treatment Options After Cardiac Arrest”.

First, Dr. Fries, whose high school diploma was far from perfect, gave personal insights into his unconventional career path in a review of his background in the German healthcare system. He then reviewed the history of critical care, outlining key historical dates and innovations. For instance, the most groundbreaking developments in this field took place primarily in the last 50 to 60 years. Prior to that, Fries said, the chances of survival from cardiac arrest were virtually zero, as there were simply no effective treatment options. At the same time, the Medical Director and Chief Physician of the Department of Anesthesiology and Surgical Intensive Care Medicine at the UMFST-UMCH Teaching Hospital in Limburg, the St. Vincent Hospital, repeatedly emphasized that the time until treatment begins is a crucial factor in the event of an emergency. He also went into detail about the individual advantages and disadvantages of the various treatment methods and emphasized how important it is for lay people to be able to perform resuscitation measures in an emergency, as this massively increases the survival rate. In addition to his lively and animated presentation style, he also backed up his talk with videos – for example, of a case in which a football player suddenly suffered cardiac arrest during a game.

After assessing the status quo in the medical community regarding the treatment of cardiac arrest, he challenged the UMFST-UMCH students in attendance to think critically and answered all of the questions they posed to him during the discussion portion of the event.

Gallery: