With typical marketing hyperbole, Mikel Jollett’s article, “The Miracle of Ice,” about a new surgical technique involving induced hypothermia, is summed, presumably by the editor, with “the only catch:  it kills you before it saves you.”

This could be applied to most of the things in our lives that nearly ‘kill’ us; the slings and arrows of fortune we are all heir to. They either kill us, or we have a new life.   But I digress.

Yes, there is a surgeon having great success using induced-hypothermia when operating on the brains of stroke victims.  This is the story of a new-old procedure that involves cooling the body, but this is for hours, not minutes; and a surgeon gutsy enough to use his common sense and go with something that works. I’m not mentioning his name for a reason.  He’s the sung hero, but there’s an unsung hero in this story.

20 years ago, induced hypothermia was used only as a last resort, when there was nothing to lose, like surgery on a stopped heart. 

The body would be chilled by a combination of techniques, to 18 degrees C (64 F); scary, as there are potentially lethal side-effects such as frostbite, shock, pneumonia, and death.

How did we discover the use of this procedure?

It was thanks to Raul Busto, a research assistant at the University of Miami, way back in 1987.

The wonder of this story is that Jollett found this piece of information when researching the article, and thought to include it. 

Raul didn’t get to write an article in the prestigious JAMA about his discovery.  He didn’t get invited to address the national convention of brain surgeons.  He didn’t get promoted to head of the department or have a chair named for him at a medical center. I don’t know the facts, but he probably didn’t even get a raise or bonus.

Busto, observant guy that he was, simply noticed that even when blood flow was cut off to a section of the brain in certain rats, they didn’t have a stroke, and this in rats whose body temps were only a few degrees below normal.

Raul then had the presence of mind to connect the dots on what he observed. The wonder is that his presumably small voice was heard.

There are people who lack the credentials, by choice, by chance or by lack of opportunity, who are making tremendous contributions to our lives all the time.  The diagnosis by the grandmother down the street, the perceptive comment of the nail technician, a caring neighbor or teacher who notices something, the mechanic tinkering in his garage or the nascent genius in the computer or medical lab.

Examples?  I hear many from clients. 

Bill and Mary, with combined IQs of 300, were told by their son’s teacher that he needed glasses.  When he got them, the child exclaimed, “There are leaves on trees!  Look, I can see trash in people’s yard.”

Susan got her son into drug rehab just in time because her colleague at work met the teenager and suggested to Susan that those red eyes and that runny nose weren’t “allergies.”

Liquid paper was invented by some secretary who had a brain and was able to think outside the box.

The glue on post-it notes was a lab failure for a permanent glue, but the researcher had common sense, and thought a temporary bond might have an application.  (Could we live without our post-it notes?)

Martha found out her baby had a tumor because when her mother was changing the baby’s diapers, she noticed what the younger mother couldn’t differentiate.

And my client in Venezuela gave me the key to another client I couldn’t fathom.  “They’re mountain people,” she said.  “You know.”  I did not.  But in Venezuela one knows the difference between those who live in the mountains, those who live in the plains, and those who live by the sea.

It’s a shame that we have a system set up where only the PhDs and MDs get the recognition – and are granted the veracity. 

I coach and consult in emotional intelligence (which includes common sense), and I often find in offices the quiet suggestions of the smaller players have been ignored and are quite valuable.  Why should a lawyer listen to his secretary when she says they’re getting milked by their web designer?  No credentials.  Why should the CEO listen to the accounting clerk who predicts the trend toward a product they could easily produce?  Not his field.  Why should the ‘suits’ in Miami listen to a coach who says that cruise passengers would attend lectures on self-help, astrology or engineering?  Because everyone in Miami “knows” that all all cruise passengers want is to drink and gamble .. except for the coach who cruises a lot and listens to the actual guests - - wondering about the ships engines, the stars they see in the romantic night sky over the ocean, and, yes, Virginia they do not leave their problems at home when they cruise, they come right along with them, sometimes in person, sometimes in their thoughts and hearts.

The first thing I did when I was sent to a troubled apartment complex, back in my property management days, was to interview the people who actually worked on the property daily, so were forced to deal in real life with the problems at hand.  The leasing agent, the maintenance man, even the mailman could tell me the simple truth, from their emotional intelligence, and observations, that told me what the problems AND THE SOLUTIONS were.  They made me look good.  I had the credentials, but thank you Mildred Mannigan for greeting me at the door of Concord Square Apartments with, "If they would simply ____, this apt. complex would be full tomorrow. 

Will you please TELL someone."  If you're the 'they' -- listen. 

All sing the unsung hero.  Wherever you are, Raul Busto, thank you.  Thank you for all the lives that will be saved because of you.  And thanks to the "suit" that listened to Raul when he told what he knew.

Now go out and apply this!

Susan Dunn

Susan Dunn, MA, Relationship & EQ Coach, susandunn Coaching, Internet courses and ebooks for your personal and professional development Susan is the author of "Midlife Dating Survival Manual" for women. Mailto: sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information and free ezine.

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