After suffering cardiac arrest in March, Ken Platt’s heart stopped for 45 minutes — a span that typically marks the end of life. But thanks to a groundbreaking eCPR program, the 65-year-old got a second chance.
When Platt awoke with chest pain and quickly lost consciousness on March 9, first responders asked his wife, Kaitlynn Platt, where to take him. Living in Muscatine and knowing Ken Platt’s history with a pacemaker and defibrillator from a previous heart attack, Kaitlynn Platt chose University of Iowa Health Care, where he had been treated before.
“If we would have went anywhere else, we probably wouldn’t be having this interview,” Kaitlynn Platt said.
Ken Platt’s heart first stopped during the ambulance ride to UIHC, but paramedics were able to revive him.
After arriving at UIHC, his heart stopped again, and defibrillation was no longer effective. Kaitlynn Platt remembered a doctor delivering devastating news: All efforts had failed, but there was one last option.
“I said try whatever you can, please, because we haven’t even been married a year yet,” Kaitlynn Platt said. “I couldn’t lose my best friend.”
The crucial intervention was extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or eCPR, an advanced procedure combining traditional CPR with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, also known as ECMO.
This life-support technique temporarily takes over heart and lung function during cardiac arrest, keeping blood circulating to vital organs and delivering oxygen to the brain, preventing irreversible damage.
UIHC launched its eCPR program in November 2023, the first of its kind in Iowa and among only a few nationwide. Ken Platt was among its first patients.
“Whatever they did, they did it right,” Kaitlynn Platt said of the UIHC team. “To go that long without blood flow and him to not lose any brain function is absolutely phenomenal.”
In addition to the life-saving eCPR treatment, Ken and Kaitlynn Platt described their experience with the UIHC staff — doctors, nurses, and specialists — as exceptional during Ken’s three-month stay. The couple stayed in close contact with ECMO director Lovkesh Arora, who treated Ken in the first week and provided ongoing care and support throughout his recovery.
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“Every day, he came back to check on Ken. Even on the days he wasn’t on the floor,” Kaitlynn Platt said. “We’ll never forget him.”
Ken Platt recalled that during one of his early follow-up appointments at UIHC, he made a point to visit the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit to personally thank the team who had originally treated him, including Arora.
“I decided, okay, I’m gonna walk,” Ken Platt said, noting that he lost 30 lbs and much of his leg strength after three months in bed. “I can’t walk a whole long time then, but I’m not gonna go in there in a wheelchair.”
Ken Platt explained that although Arora was in a different department, the ICU staff called him, and he came immediately.
“That was one of the best bear hugs I’ve ever got in my life,” Ken Platt said.
Arora said this moment in the ICU and Ken Platt’s overall recovery are deeply meaningful to him as well.
“He was able to go home, and he’s living a good, functional life, and that gives us a lot of happiness,” Arora said. “He also came to our ICU to see all of us a few weeks ago, and it was a wonderful moment.”
Arora explained that Ken needed a left ventricular assist device, also known as LVAD, for ongoing support since his heart hadn’t fully recovered. Now, the implanted device helps circulate blood, powered by a battery pack he wears on his chest.
“I have a battery-operated husband,” Kaitlynn Platt joked, adding that they’ve used humor as a coping mechanism.
Ken Platt’s cardiologist, Ernesto Ruiz Duque, described his recovery as remarkable.
“It’s not common to have a patient that came from the illness that he had during his event to be able to come back and make a full recovery,” Duque said.
Duque also described Kaitlynn Platt’s dedication as unwavering, noting that she never left her husband’s side throughout his treatment and recovery.
“They are nice people, there are good people, and I’m happy they are having the life that they want,” Duque said. “They want to be together. They’re just recently married, so I’m happy for them.”
Arora and Duque both emphasized that Ken Platt’s recovery was only possible through the coordinated efforts of the entire medical team at UIHC working together to provide life-saving care.