Surgeons at the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, USA are ready to perform an experimental 'emergency preservation and resuscitation' procedure to prolong the life of the patient.

According to New Scientist, it involved replacing all the patient's blood with a saline solution, which stalls cellular activity. This means that less oxygen is required to keep the patient alive, which would prove crucial in the case of heart failure and massive blood loss.

The patient's body temperature will be reduced to 10 degrees Celsius and they will be clinically dead, after which their blood will be returned and they will be resuscitated if their heart does not begin pumping again by itself. 

The procedure was first performed on pigs in 2000, when it proved successful and without physical or mental side-effects. The surgeons are now ready to try it on 10 patients who meet their criteria, after which the results will be analysed. 

On the science fiction-like possibilities of this 'emergency preservation,' head of the surgical team, Samuel Tisherman said: "We're trying to save lives, not pack people off to Mars. Can we go longer than a few hours with no blood flow? I don't know. Maybe years from now someone will have figured out how to do it, but it will certainly take time."