Just like every Sunday, Dana Trachsel of Rochester Hills dressed her two-year-old son and 5-month-old daughter and left with her husband for Grace Apostolic Church in Clawson. But as the service began and the choir began singing, the day changed dramatically.

While voices rose in song, Dana, 28, stood after rocking her daughter to sleep, grabbed onto the pew in front of her for support and collapsed. She had suffered sudden cardiac arrest.

Time is of the essence for cardiac arrest patients. Damage to vital organs and tissues can result because blood flow and oxygen aren’t delivered throughout the body. Brain injury is likely if a patient is left untreated for more than five minutes. Nearly 60 percent of all cardiac arrest patients die from brain damage.

Dana survived with minimal complications thanks to the rapid response of parish nurses, Clawson police, paramedics and Emergency Department staff at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. Beaumont’s comprehensive emergency cardiac care system includes a new procedure called therapeutic hypothermia. During the procedure, which is standard protocol at Beaumont for cardiac arrest patients, the body’s temperature is lowered to prevent neurological damage and improve the patient survival rate.

Beaumont physicians initiate therapeutic hypothermia using a temperature management system called the Arctic Sun. The machine acts as a refrigeration unit. Adhesive gel pads connected to the device are wrapped around the patient’s torso and upper legs. Then the patient’s body temperature is lowered to 91.5 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours before being slowly raised back to normal temperature. The entire process takes about a day and a half to complete.

Donor contributions have helped with the purchase of the Arctic Sun machines at Beaumont Royal Oak and Troy. Nearly 100 patients have received the treatment since Beaumont began using the device in 2005. Beaumont is the only hospital in Oakland or Macomb counties offering the Arctic Sun system.

Doctors could not precisely identify why Dana went into cardiac arrest, but they suspect it may have been caused by Long QT Syndrome, a genetic abnormality of the heart’s electrical system. Beaumont surgeons installed a defibrillator and pacemaker as a precaution.

After 11 days of treatment and continuous monitoring, Dana received positive EKG and CT scan results and was discharged. Since then she’s resumed all her activities, including caring for her young children.

“I’m glad to know that it’s standard policy at Beaumont to use the Arctic Sun on all cardiac arrest patients,” Dana says. “I’m thankful to be given the chance to see my children grow up and continue being a wife to my husband.”