The local news here said a pediatrician said that she was responsive and the family says she responds to their voices. Now I don’t know about the credibility of the family but a pediatrician is an MD and should know what they’re talking about.
I feel for the family, they must think that as long as she has a pulse and they see her chest rise and fall, she’s still alive.
I’m holding out hope for a miracle.
Is the hospital wanting her organs?
Dr. Paul A. Byrne, neonatologist, pediatrician, President Life Guardian Foundation, has not actually examined McMath.
Generally, and in my experience...
One of the examining MD’s should be
a Neurologist or Neurosurgeon as they have an elevated awareness of how to assess CNS function in the presence of mechanical supports.
1) No evidence of drug induced coma, hypothermia, or other reversable cause of coma.
2) No evidence of Cortical, Sub-cortical, or Brain stem activity by expert exam.
3) No spontaneous respiratory activity, in the absence of metabolic parameters that inhibit Brain stem activity.
“Is the hospital wanting her organs?”
Maybe, but the black-robed serial murderers in Pinellas County, Florida, are finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to strike again.
Her chest only rises and falls because a ventilator is pumping air into it. Taken off the ventilator she might go on breathing a little longer or stop right away. But as a health care professional, I feel being kept on life support after all meaningful brain function has stopped is a terrible situation, not one I would choose for my family.. Its not fair to the family, the folks taking care of her or those of us paying for it.