New medical procedure saves coach's life

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida high school coach's is alive thanks to a new medical procedure doctors used when he suffered a heart attack.

Wrestling coach Robert Burns collapsed after he suffered a heart attack at Deerfield Beach High School back in March. "At first, I thought he was joking, coz that's just the kind of guy he is, but when he wasn't responding at all I was just honestly scared coz I thought I killed him," said school wrestler Brandon Smith.

A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy said he ran to help Burns as quick as possible. "Some of the kids told me that coach Burns had passed out. Went there and when I got there, I didn't get any vitals" said Kevin Coleman. "I probably got there within two and a half minutes."

Paramedics saved his life, but a new technique probably saved his mind. BSO fire rescue are one of the first to use a new procedure call ICE. They use a chilled solution and hook it to an IV that pumps the cold solution directly into the blood, in order to cool the brain and prevent brain damage. "If someone has a cardiac arrest, if you cool them quickly, you stop the inflammatory response, and you actually preserved the tissue," said Broward Medical Center Dr. Nabil El Sanadi.

About 700 BSO paramedics and 390 Fort Lauderdale paramedics have been trained to use the new technique. "He's done so much for a lot of people, it's just right for someone to do something for him," said Smith.

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