Abstract
A 56-year-old man suddenly collapsed at the eighth station of Mt. Fuji. A foreign doctor happened to be on the scene and diagnosed cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). During this time, another person on the scene notified the 8th Station First Aid Station and a doctor was dispatched with an automated external defibrillator (AED). The AED was successfully administered about 30 minutes after the patient collapsed. Shortly after the patient's breathing and pulse were restored. Once able to be safely transported, he was taken by an off-road (crawler caterpillar) vehicle down to the fifth station, where an ambulance was prepared to take him to the Yamanashi Red Cross Hospital. He arrived at the hospital about two hours after defibrillation was performed. By the next day, his consciousness was restored without hypothermia. A coronary arteriogram showed the perfect occlusion of the left anterior descending artery and that collateral circulation had developed. He was discharged four days later without any after effects of this occurrence. Along with the importance of having first aid stations at the 7th and 8th Stations, the success of this event reconfirms the importance of the 2007 initiative to make AED devices available at all mountain huts as well as training employees basic life support (BLS) skills.
