A 39-year-old man with no significant medical history was on a heart monitor in an emergency department when staff tried to draw his blood. During the attempt, he felt nauseated and lightheaded. His heart rate slowed, and then the monitor showed no heartbeat at all.
"Asystole persisted for 15 seconds, and when no pulse was detected, chest compressions were initiated," physicians from U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka in Japan wrote in Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine in April. After 20 seconds of compressions, he regained consciousness with his circulation restored.
