heart.
"So as long as he has oxygen, his heart will function on its own? He doesn't need a pacemaker?" "Right," my instructor responded. "The brain tells the lungs to breathe, but it doesn't tell the heart to beat. Remember the heart has its own electrical conduction system." I nodded. I did remember, as we were knee-deep in cardiology at school. 6 students, our instructor, and two nurses were crowded around a patient's bed. His chest rose and fell rhythmically, and his telemetry monitor showed a steady, healthy heartbeat. His skin was warm and even-toned, exactly what nurses want to see, since this indicates good blood circulation, which means the heart is doing its job, which means it's getting the oxygen it needs. We took turns listening to his heart sounds with our stethoscopes--a strong, healthy pattern of lub dub lub dub lub dub. He'd been declared brain dead a couple days before, his breathing the work of a ventilator ne...