Colin Fiedler, Australian Man, Dead For 40 Minutes; AutoPulse Machine Saved His Life

Colin Fiedler was dead for 40 minutes.

Last June, the 39-year-old Australian man was pronounced clinically dead for nearly an hour before being revived by two new techniques, the Herald Sun reports.

"I'm so grateful, more than I could ever say," he told the Herald Sun.

The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, which performed the lifesaving treatment, is testing a mechanical CPR machine and portable lung machine that keeps blood and oxygen flowing to save the patient’s vital organs, Fox News reports.

Three cardiac arrest patients including Fiedler have been saved using the AutoPulse machine and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after being dead for 40 to 60 minutes. The Alfred is the only hospital that uses the machines.

When Fiedler was in an ambulance he was asked which hospital to go to.

"For some reason, I said The Alfred, which is pretty lucky, because they are the only one that has it," he said.

The AutoPulse machine, created by Zoll, is considered a “non-invasive cardiac support pump.” Unlike EMTs or hospital workers that can tire from giving traditional chest compressions, the AutoPulse provides uninterrupted blood flow for cardiac arrest patients.

But traditional CPR continues to save lives.

David Binks, a British man, was clinically dead for 70 minutes before his wife and paramedics resuscitated him using CPR, The Chronicle reports.

“I don’t think any of us expected to be told that three days later David would be out of his hospital bed. Shocked is an understatement. It’s results like this that make our jobs so rewarding,” paramedic Vicky Adamson said.