The participants in Dr Bolli's study were 23 unfortunates who had each had at least one heart attack in the past, and were thus lined up for coronary-bypass surgery, in which the furred-up blood supply to the heart is replaced with an alternative artery crafted from a blood vessel taken from elsewhere usually the leg.
Dr. Velmahos said the hospital from its janitors to highest management had prepared for such an event, with ample blood supply and materials for an influx of near-death patients.