A 3-year-old girl was revived after she wandered out into the snow and froze to the point of clinical death, her body temperature 24 degrees below normal.
Brittany Eichelberger was in critical but stable condition Wednesday at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, nursing supervisor Patty Wentroble said.Her fingers and toes were frostbitten, but she was sitting up in bed and talking, Wentroble said.
"The remarkable thing was that the child's body temperature was 74 degrees and she was successfully resuscitated," said Dr. John Veach of Davis Memorial Hospital, where Brittany was revived.
"She was in complete cardiac arrest with no heart activity and no breathing," Veach said. "Because she was so cold, she had a deathlike appearance, and in fact she was dead."
Brittany was found lying in snow Monday morning clad only in a nightgown. It was 27 degrees at the time. Her mother had last checked on her five hours earlier.