question about heart transplant

[MIA-RN1, RN]

hi All! I am a nursing student, graduating next month. In class today we were going over dysrrhythmias and when we got to asystole the instructor said that its basically end-stage cardiac failure and where there is no electricity, the chances of bringing someone back are nil.

One of my classmates asked what if the case is drowning where the person is hypothermic and the teacher said there has to be some electrical activity.

So I asked what about the case of heart transplants--I mean, the donor heart isn't beating in the cooler is it?? My instructor had no answer for me.

So I am asking the pros here.

How on earth do they get the donor heart beating again if a person can't recover from asystole?

Thanks in advance!!! :)

[king of codes]

there is limited thoracic space, the "old" heart is shaved down if needed, never completele A&p of how e-mail me, but it is "irrelevant". the new heart now has complete flow from bypasses vessles and it is shocked with jules, the same that is done in heart bypass that is done on pump, where the heart is stopped. There are sterile paddles that look like spatulas that are placed in the thoracic cavity around te heart and enery applied just like a code, on the outside of the patient, only less jules.

The only difference is that post open heart transplant, the "native heart" is still attatched to thenervous system and at times can display and compete in a heart electrical rythymn on ekg..... so you see interesting "native" beats occasionaly.

[MIA-RN1, RN]

there is limited thoracic space, the "old" heart is shaved down if needed, never completele A&p of how e-mail me, but it is "irrelevant". the new heart now has complete flow from bypasses vessles and it is shocked with jules, the same that is done in heart bypass that is done on pump, where the heart is stopped. There are sterile paddles that look like spatulas that are placed in the thoracic cavity around te heart and enery applied just like a code, on the outside of the patient, only less jules.

The only difference is that post open heart transplant, the "native heart" is still attatched to thenervous system and at times can display and compete in a heart electrical rythymn on ekg..... so you see interesting "native" beats occasionaly.

so if I understand correctly, pieces of the old heart are still there, and they hold the electrical charge so to speak until the new heart is shocked into picking up the beat? Thats where i got confused--where is the electrical activity? In the recipient, right?

Re: the native heart rhythm--do you mean that the little bit remaining in the recipient might now or then have its own rhythm going on?