McCloy Being Kept in Medical Coma
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 6, 2006 — -- The sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster is being kept in a drug-induced coma as part of his treatment, doctors said.
Randal McCloy is now at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, undergoing hyperbaric therapy after he was stabilized at a hospital in Morgantown, W.Va.
"It's almost like you've put the brain to sleep a little bit so that it doesn't have to do as much work. It's sort of a protective thing to do," said Dr. James Valeriano, vice chairman of neurology at AGH.
The doctor went on to say that the drug-induced coma allows the body to concentrate on healing itself and prevents the patient from fighting against the ventilator and IV tubes running from his body.
When doctors have reduced the 26-year-old miner's sedation, both medical staff and family members report that he has responded to stimuli. Tambra Flint, McCloy's mother, told ABC's "Good Morning America" today that she is sure her son can hear them.
"When we discuss things with him like going fishing and hunting, he gets excited also," Flint said.
"He is starting to come around a little bit when he's off the medicine. He'll chew on the tube that he has been intubated with and he'll start to move around," Valeriano said. He agreed that this is a good sign but emphasized he has not yet seen any movement that could not be attributed to reflexes.
Despite this slight improvement, McCloy's condition is still considered critical and he requires a team of doctors to care for his numerous injuries. His physicians said he suffers from multisystem organ failure, and scans indicate that there has been at least some damage to his brain.
"So far what we see are posterior injuries, the part of the brain that would have to do more with sensation and possibly even vision." said Valeriano, who also said that without being able to interact with his patient it is very difficult to gauge his true neurological state.
As long as his medical condition remains stable, McCloy is expected to continue to undergo hyperbaric treatment throughout the weekend. This treatment is meant to combat the carbon monoxide poisoning the father of two sustained during the more than 40 hours he was trapped in the mine.
Dr. Antonios Zikos, a pulmonary specialist, said that at this point the hyperbaric treatment is not acute care, but chronic care, meaning it could take quite some time before any results become visible.
"The progress is not immediate progress; [the treatment] is to prevent long-term psychiatric deficits, and these can occur weeks and months down the road." said Zikos.
While the family continued to pray for a complete recovery, the team of doctors working on McCloy agreed that the biggest advantage he has right now is that he is relatively young and was in good physical condition.
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