TIL After President Kennedy was shot and arrived at Parkland Memorial Hospital, he was reported to still have a heartbeat, but no pulse or blood pressure

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/kennedy-assassination-faq/

58 points · 26 comments · view on lemmy.world

26 Comments

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 39 pts · 33d (21 replies)

How can you have a heartbeat but no pulse? Aren't those the same thing? 🤨

sudoshakes@reddthat.com · 34 pts · 33d (7 replies)

Electrical current firing in the heart can be picked up by EKG, but if there is no blood left in the tube you have no blood pressure.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 32d (6 replies)

Wouldn't it run out of oxygen?

hansolo@lemmy.today · 8 pts · 31d (4 replies)

Eventually, but it's a muscle. Salt applied to freshly butchered meat will spasm because it's still muscles with sugars left to burn.

Same thing like if someone gets decapitated. The heart might still pump for a while and shoot blood out everywhere. Doesn't mean the person of still alive.

possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 31d (1 reply)

Have you witnessed both these things?

hansolo@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 31d

Just the first one in person.

Master@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 31d (1 reply)

Doesnt mean they're dead. Could still have brain function a minute or SO after decapitation.

hansolo@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 31d

Seconds, maybe. Once the brain loses blood pressure, most functions outside the stem go offline.

sudoshakes@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 32d

Yes.

thethrilloftime69@feddit.online · 25 pts · 32d (1 reply)

Heart can continue to beat but if there's nothing to pump through the blood vessels, you won't feel a pulse.

madcaesar@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 31d

Fuck....

ryannathans@aussie.zone · 11 pts · 33d (8 replies)

If you cut out the heart it will beat for quite some time after death

kambusha@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 32d (1 reply)

"Things only my ex would know"

yermaw@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 31d

finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 31d

Depends on how neatly you cut it. If you just hack and slash, it doesn't last very long at all. But, as with everything, the more you practice, the better you ...

Oh, wait.

Uh, NVM.

SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 31d

If you culture cardiac muscle cells, they start beating.

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 0 pts · 33d (3 replies)

I am doubtful of that but I haven't ripped enough hearts out of people to know for sure.

ryannathans@aussie.zone · 3 pts · 32d

https://youtu.be/GxGZYM8IA5o

A turtle heart, same concept, nsfw

LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 31d

The quite some time seems hard to believe but the idea that heart transplants occur must mean that there must be some wiggle room I guess.

funkajunk@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 33d

That implies you've done it at least once 🤔

Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 33d

When you heart stop beatin but she still suckin

deegeese@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 33d

Try blowing up a popped balloon and tell us how it goes.

Reality_Suit@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 33d

PEA: pulseless electrical activity. But, when reading the article, it sounds like his body may have gone into hypovolemic shock. Long story short: When the body goes into systemic shock, it will vasoconstrict to pull all the blood to the vital organs, so your heart could still be beating but not have the pressure/volume to be able to detect a pulse.

Pistcow@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 33d (2 replies)

So like Mitch McConnell?

Cort@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 33d (1 reply)

Yeah, but the opposite. He has no heart but somehow has a pulse

kyonshi@piefed.social · 3 pts · 31d

Mitchell McConnell hasn't looked like he had a pulse for the last 20 years. The man looked like he was made from off-brand play-doh