--- title: "Medical First: Doctor Performs Open Heart Surgery in the Street" description: "In a medical first, doctors saved a stabbing victim's life by performing open-heart surgery in the street because he wouldn't have survived to the hospital." date: "2019-05-04" modified: "2019-05-04" authors: - name: "Dan Robitzski" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/medical-first-doctor-performs-open-heart-surgery-street" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" tags: - "medicine" - "surgery" - "the digest" --- # Medical First: Doctor Performs Open Heart Surgery in the Street ![In a medical first, doctors saved a stabbing victim's life by performing open-heart surgery in the street because he wouldn't have survived to the hospital.]() *\Image: rostichep via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Open Air Surgery After a man was stabbed in Durham, England, medical personnel arriving at the scene worried he might not survive the trip to the hospital. Instead of taking that risk, [according to *The Independent*](), the two doctors began to perform emergency heart surgery right there in the street. It was a risky procedure, but one that ultimately paid off — the [surgery was a success]() and the man, who had gone into cardiac arrest before the doctors arrived, survived. ## Mobile Unit The doctors attribute the successful procedure to the fact that they were able to reach the stabbing victim within 15 minutes, per *The Independent*. "I think it's proof that if everything works in terms of the patient getting good care on scene straight away, if we can \[utilize\] the aircraft or the car and get the team to the scene as quickly as possible, then we can make a difference to that patient," Chris Smith, the doctor who performed the procedure to remove a blood clot and restart the man's heart, told *The Independent.* In short, that doesn’t mean that more doctors should replace operating rooms with street scenes — but it does mean a robust healthcare infrastructure can make all the difference during an emergency. **READ MORE:** [Doctors perform open heart surgery in middle of street to stop stab victim bleeding to death]() \[*The Independent*\] **More on surgery:** *[Experts: Stem Cells and Robots Will Replace Many Invasive Surgeries]()* ## Author Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California. ### Author social links [Twitter]()