An ambulance pulled up to University Hospital, carrying a man experiencing severe pains in his chest and shortness of breath. The 42-year-old veteran had felt fine a few days prior - a little headache and a sore throat - only to fall into a state of fever, chills, and hypoxia. He had been put on a ventilator but was not getting any better. If the medical professionals at the hospital couldn’t help his body get the oxygen it so desperately needed, he would soon suffocate. It was time to call in reinforcements and try some extreme measures to save his life. It was time to call in the specialists in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.

Follow the journey of Rebecca Brim, the CVICU charge nurse helping oversee this man’s care, and understand a little of the intense emotional and psychological toll that caretakers face as they treat patients teetering on the grey line between life and death.