Morgan and Karadec weren’t dealing with a murder victim at first in High Potential season 1, episode 8. Their victim was alive and had suffered from something known as the Lazarus Effect.
Yes, this condition is real but rare. Morgan did a great job of explaining it within the context of the series, but didn’t have time to go into it a lot. Let’s dive into this phenomenon.
What is the Lazarus Effect?
As Morgan explained, the Lazarus Effect is named after the man in the Bible. The story goes that Lazarus died and was dead for days. Jesus brought him back to life. It’s considered a miracle to Christians.
Now it turns out that there may be a scientific explanation. Of sorts, anyway. People do come back from the dead, as did the victim in the High Potential episode.
The phenomenon occurs when a person is declared dead by a healthcare worker. That person then suddenly regains blood flow, seemingly coming back to life. The medical term is actually “autoresuscitation,” due to the way the body spontaneously restarts circulation after CPR has ended.
A person isn’t actually dead when they suffer from the Lazarus Effect. It just seems like they are because there are no vital signs. There’s just a delay in the return of blood flow after CPR.
The Lazarus Effect was shown as a miracle in High Potential
There are only 65 documented cases of the Lazarus Effect between 1982 and 2018, according to Cleveland Clinic. This is an extremely rare condition, and High Potential did add a bit of a miracle element to the story. The majority of people who go through this condition die afterward.
There isn’t much that is known about the condition, except that it could be caused by the hyperinflation of the lungs. Too much air is going in and not enough is coming out, leading to a delay in the blood flow returning.
Healthcare workers attempt to avoid the Lazarus Effect from happening since so many die afterward. This helps to prevent that hope that a person will survive, especially considering around 68% of people who have had the phenomenon occur have been over the age of 60.
In High Potential, we see the young woman not just come back from the dead, but have no medical issues. Despite the hit to the head, she’s able to remember the attack and she can share details of her research into the murder of her boyfriend. This is where the whole thing becomes a little more like a miracle for the sake of the storytelling in the series.
High Potential airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC. Catch up the following day on Hulu.
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