How long do hospitals normally keep resusitating hearts?

[scrummyyummy]

I'm very pleased that Muamba is now on the road to recovery after his cardiac arrest and it got me thinking and wondering......I read the hospital worked on him for 2 hours to get his heart to start pumping of its own accord and they had to shock him 15 times! Would hospitals normally keep trying to resusitate for as long as 2 hours? I was under the impression they try and shock a few times, give adrenaline 2 or 3 times and maybe work on the patient for a bit but if there's no sign, they normally call it a day? If that's the case, are they writing off patients who could have been saved, like Muamba, if they were to carry on for 2 hours or more? If the doctors try for say, 10 minutes and decide that nothing can be done, can a relative insist they keep trying?

[Sqad]

Excellent post by 237SJ.....well written and explained.