The iPad may be great for playing games, watching movies, and surfing the web. But for one Minnesota man, the iPad has become much more than that after it helped save his life after he experienced a life-threatening arterial blockage in his heart.
As CBS Minnesota reports, 48-year-old Andy McMonigle started to feel intense pressure in his arm while working out at the Mayo Clinic’s health center. Knowing that he had a history of heart trouble, he immediately found someone and asked for help. Mayo Clinic resident Dr. Daniel Landers answered that call, and stayed by his side while shouting for assistance.
Two more residents of the clinic quickly came to his aid, while Leuders pulled out his iPad, quickly retrieved McMonigle’s medical history, and found information that suggested he may be suffering from a blockage in the stent that was installed in his heart. Once an ambulance crew had arrived, the physicians compared the medical records with readings from an EKG machine, and confirmed that there was a blockage.
In short, the iPad’s ability to quickly retrieve medical records helped those three residents make a choice that saved McMonigle’s life – a decision that otherwise may have depended on several hours of tests. Instead, doctors were able to immediately prepare McMonigle and remove the blockage in a fraction of the time it otherwise would have taken.
I’m not sure whether McMonigle owns an iPad, but I’m fairly certain that he’ll never look at one in the same way again.
