Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built?

Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by gardenfelder on Friday November 18, 2022 @03:06PM (#33661268)

I guess my most impactful project was a microprocessor-based weather station for siting wind energy systems and fruit frost prediction in the early 1980s. Turned out that one of my stations, being used by a frost predictor, was across the street from a rural drainage ditch in which a young child was discovered face down in the water. The frost predictor faxed temperature profiles for the previous several hours to the hospital, where doctors determined the child could be revived. She was.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by dan_wood on Friday November 18, 2022 @04:09PM (#33662234)

That’s amazing.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by gardenfelder on Friday November 18, 2022 @04:20PM (#33662398)

Interesting that one my the developers on my projects was Dan Wood.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by thewebcount on Friday November 18, 2022 @04:14PM (#33662313)

Wow! That's a pretty amazing story. Thank you for sharing.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by gardenfelder on Friday November 18, 2022 @04:18PM (#33662372)

Thank you! Took me by surprise when my client phoned and said my weather station was on the evening news.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by pmarreck on Friday November 18, 2022 @05:26PM (#33663342)

wait... they won't try to revive a child unless they can first prove that said child can be revived? Why not just... try to do it regardless and hope for the best?

Also, as a new parent, my immediate thought is of course "WHO wasn't watching the kid??"

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by 13of40 on Friday November 18, 2022 @06:51PM (#33664695)

Just a guess, but it might have something to do with whether the brain is able to be saved vs. just the body.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by pmarreck on Saturday November 19, 2022 @03:05AM (#33668125)

yes but why wouldn't you try regardless of knowing? In the time you spend gathering temp data, you could already be reviving

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by Aeolun on Saturday November 19, 2022 @08:59AM (#33670080)

I imagine they were doing that regardless, but were very happy to learn that there was an actual chance of success.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by gardenfelder on Saturday November 19, 2022 @03:42PM (#33674459)

That, in fact, is how I figured it went. I did not get to see the video, so everything remains speculation.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most impactful thing you've ever built? by justsomehnguy on Saturday November 19, 2022 @01:10PM (#33672856)

Because chances are extremely slim:

> Various degrees of hypothermia may be deliberately induced in medicine for purposes of treatment of brain injury, or lowering metabolism so that total brain ischemia can be tolerated for a short time. Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest is a medical technique in which the brain is cooled as low as 10 °C, which allows the heart to be stopped and blood pressure to be lowered to zero, for the treatment of aneurysms and other circulatory problems that do not tolerate arterial pressure or blood flow. The time limit for this technique, as also for accidental arrest in ice water (which internal temperatures may drop to as low as 15 °C), is about one hour.[84]

Also you can't just warm the body back to 38 degrees, it should be carefully brought up AFAIK.

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