X-Message-Number: 2102
Newsgroups: sci.cryonics
From:  (Ken Kahn)
Subject: Newborn survives four hours in freezer
Message-ID: <>
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 06:05:27 GMT

Thought this group might find this interesting.

From:  (UPI)

Newsgroups: 
clari.news.interest,clari.tw.health,clari.local.illinois,clari.news.children
> Subject: Newborn survives four hours in freezer
Keywords: mysteries of the universe, human interest, health, children,
	special interest
X-Supersedes: <>
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 93 12:28:26 PDT
Location: illinois
ACategory: usa
Slugword: freezebaby
Priority: daily
Format: daily, regular
ANPA: Wc: 419/422; Id: z4436; Sel: xxnhm; Adate: 4-6-330ped; Ver: 0/1; V: ld
Codes: &nhmdxx., &nkmril., &njcril., tncn....
Note: (complete writethru -- updating condition, doctor says newborn surviving
 freezer in plastic bag 'pretty signficant')

	BERWYN, Ill. (UPI) -- A newborn was in fair condition Tuesday, after
spending four hours wrapped in a plastic bag in a kitchen freezer.
Hospital officials described the infant's survival as a ``minor miracle.
''
	The infant girl, admitted to Loyola University Medical Center in
critical condition, was in fair condition, breathing on her own and took
her first bottle Tuesday afternoon after paramedics found her wrapped in
a plastic bag in the freezer of a Berwyn home west of Chicago.
	``It's far too early to tell if there will be any long-term
implications. But as far as immediately, she doesn't seem to be in any
danger and tests normal,'' hospital spokesman Michael Maggio said.
	Authorities estimated the full-term baby spent four hours in the
freezer after its birth to an unidentified single mother on Friday. The
24-year-old woman apparently believed the child was stillborn, fire
officials said.
	She placed it in the freezer and went to MacNeal Hospital for
treatment of vaginal bleeding, where she told doctors what she had done.
	Paramedics Scott Dreyer and Steven Gregory said the infant was was
blue, had no pulse and its temperature was about 50 degrees when they
found it.
	``In a very unusual way, the cold put her...in a state of suspended
animation, said Dr. Jonathan Muraskas, the attending physician in the
neo-natal intensive care unit.
	``She looks great. Her exams are normal but we might not see some
residual effects for maybe weeks, months or a year. Or it could be
nothing. Now things are very optimistic,'' Muraskas said. ``To survive
being in a freezer in a plastic bag for four hours is pretty
significant.''
	``We went to the house. We opened the freezer. My partner found a
white plastic garbage bag in there. He took that out and put it on the
floor,'' Gregory said.
	Gregory said there were no obvious signs of life so they put a tube
down the baby's throat, started oxygen and attached a heart monitor,
which picked up disorganized electrical activity.
	Gregory administered two cardiac drugs, began heart message and
applied heat packs to warm the body.
	The infant began crying, moving, and turned pink at the hospital and
was placed on a respirator.
	``All tests done on the baby have shown to be normal, including
brain-wave scans, which is a small miracle,'' Maggio said.

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