CPR Training (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation)

[StarSong]

why Russia, why not the UK...? ( altho' nowadays most people are likely to spend more time filming it on their phones to upload to Social Meedja...I have heard or read the same about the USA.. but as a litigation society, I'm not surprised people are wary ... what a shame. I have a feeling similar will happen here soon too..

Many (perhaps all) US states, California included, offer protection to "Good Samaritans" who render aid at an accident scene.
Good Samaritan Laws at the Scene of a Car Accident

"Standard Good Samaritan laws protecting people who aren't licensed health care providers read something like this:

"Any person who is not a health care professional who is present at an emergency or accident scene and who:

(1) Believes that the life, health, and safety of an injured person or a person who is under imminent threat of danger could be aided by reasonable and accessible emergency procedures under the circumstances existing at the scene thereof; and

(2) Proceeds to lend emergency assistance or service in a manner calculated in good faith to lessen or remove the immediate threat to the life, health, or safety of such a person, shall not be held liable in civil damages in any action in this state for any act or omission resulting from the rendering of emergency assistance or services unless the act or omission was not in good faith and was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct."

So, in order to qualify for protection under this type of statutory language, the Good Samaritan has to reasonably believe that the victim was in immediate need of emergency help in order to avoid serious harm or death, and then has to provide help in good faith. And again, the Good Samaritan law is no defense to a charge of gross negligence or willful misconduct.

But you should be aware that some states limit the protection of Good Samaritans who are not licensed health care providers. Some states do not provide protection to a lay Good Samaritan unless the Good Samaritan has a current first aid or life-saving certificate from a qualified organization like the Red Cross or the American Heart Association."

 

[911]

You’re safe innPA, if you attempt to revive or give aid to a person who may be in danger from choking, or another life threatening event. I was glad to get the choke tube. The Heimlich maneuver always kind of made me nervous, especially on older people whose bones are more fragile and will break easier. In CPR class, the instructor told us not to worry about breaking a bone such as a rib. That can be taken care of later. The main concern is to get the blood flowing back to the brain.

 

[palides2021]

911. When you recertify you will see that CPR training has changed quite a bit. One major difference is the practice of doing both mouth blows and chest compressions. Now the practice is to only do chest compressions but at an increased rate.

In my personal experience over a ten year period of time with Metro Toronto Ambulance between 1977 and 1987, I did CPR on at least 200 people. How many did I revive ? About 10. Why ? TIME between the person going vital signs absent, and the start of effective CPR measures. Even if we were able to get to the patient in the hoped for seven minute arrival time, the chances were low that the patient was going to be revived.

Today the availability of public cardiac equipment has improved those numbers, but only by a small amount. If the patient is out in the countryside or on a interstate highway when they go VSA, their chances are low for a recovery because of the time required to get to them. Brain death begins to occur at ten minutes of no respirations and no heart beat. Its all down hill from there, in terms of recovery. JimB.

I used to be certified for CPR when I was studying to become a medical assistant and later, as an EKG tech. I did revive a few people. However, I could not revive my late husband (I did CPR on him until the medics arrived). So I can relate to what you said here about CPR not saving everyone.

 

[VaughanJB]

why Russia, why not the UK...? ( altho' nowadays most people are likely to spend more time filming it on their phones to upload to Social Meedja...I have heard or read the same about the USA.. but as a litigation society, I'm not surprised people are wary ... what a shame. I have a feeling similar will happen here soon too..

I don't think there's an issue in Russia, and since I've no lived there I don't have an experience. In the UK I don't feel people would be much help. As you say, I think it would simply be recorded on a phone and posted on the internet. In the US, yes, it's the litigation.

Wasn't there a thread recently about a woman suing the guy who had resuscitated her from a drowning because she felt she'd been sexually assaulted?

 

[hollydolly]

You’re safe innPA, if you attempt to revive or give aid to a person who may be in danger from choking, or another life threatening event. I was glad to get the choke tube. The Heimlich maneuver always kind of made me nervous, especially on older people whose bones are more fragile and will break easier. In CPR class, the instructor told us not to worry about breaking a bone such as a rib. That can be taken care of later. The main concern is to get the blood flowing back to the brain.

I think I would take issue about not being concerned about breaking a rib... splinters of broken rib can easily pierce the lungs...

 

[911]

I think I would take issue about not being concerned about breaking a rib... splinters of broken rib can easily pierce the lungs...

Yes, you are correct, but generally speaking, if slightly tore by a splinter, it can be treated if caught early. Most people survive this type of accident. However, during a heart attack, you only have minutes if the person has stopped breathing. It’s better to apply the pressure for CPR and risk the lung from breaking than not to do anything. The lung can be repaired.

When a person stops breathing, they have 3 minutes to get blood to the brain before it begins to die and after 7 minutes brain damage will occur. This what we were taught.

From procpr: “The first thing we want to say is that yes, breaking a rib is always disconcerting, but no, you don't need to stop performing CPR if you feel a rib break.”

I know from experience that when you break a rib, you don’t necessarily splinter it. In most instances, you will crack or break the rib with a hairline fracture. I did that to a female not long after I had taken my first course. This is why it’s important to be certified every 2 years. We need to get the feel of how deep to compress the chest. Not compressing it deep enough will not get enough blood to the brain, but you can also go too deep and provide too much blood to the brain, let alone break or crack a rib.

I have my first re-certication class in December. It was going to be in January, but 2 people dropped out of the December class.

 

[911]

I used to be certified for CPR when I was studying to become a medical assistant and later, as an EKG tech. I did revive a few people. However, I could not revive my late husband (I did CPR on him until the medics arrived). So I can relate to what you said here about CPR not saving everyone.

Isn’t it like the person giving chest compressions should try doing about 100 per minute? If that’s true, that’s a lot. I would hope that help would arrive quickly. This is another reason to carry a portable AED.

 

[Widow of Vietnam Vet]

This is one of the most important posts here.

The Hands only "Staying Alive" CPR instructions ( and the song) are here:

My husband died almost 30 years ago, but the high school I went to required we had to know how to swim and also perform CPR, before we graduated.


I had just purchased a portable phone and had it with me when he suddenly collapsed in our barn.


The instructor's words came back to me from the CPR course I had ( in 1959) as he said they would, if I ever needed to do CPR.

I called for ambulance while I perform CPR , not easy with mouth to mouth and hands in those days, buy at some point he showed the definite signs of death but I kept doing CPR just in case. When ALS got here I toldfhim I think he is dead but ALS (Advanced Life Support) said No he has good color ( but then I told ALS I had done CPR until they got here- He looked at the time of call and realized he was dead but tried the paddles as well.

It is true as my instructor told the class in 1959 that if you need to do CPR, it will most probably be on a loved one, and you cannot panic, just do it.

Mt husband had been recovering from a stroke and seemed to be doing so much better, but it was a massive heart attack, a sudden unexpected death.

Two things did give me some comfort over those first months of shock after he died - he was an organ donor and also I am glad that I ,at least , had tried to revive him with CPR.

My pastor, age 60, suddenly died this past April of a massive heart attack, and there was someone with him to do CPR but he died. Still, there is ALWAYS the chance that CPR can help and it is far easier these days to do.

I have mentioned this to many seniors I know but they are not always interested iin learning CPR and many are too disabled to do it anyhow. I think it should be mandatory for a high school to teach it but schools have sure changed a lot since 1959.

 

[911]

This is one of the most important posts here.

The Hands only "Staying Alive" CPR instructions ( and the song) are here:

My husband died almost 30 years ago, but the high school I went to required we had to know how to swim and also perform CPR, before we graduated.


I had just purchased a portable phone and had it with me when he suddenly collapsed in our barn.


The instructor's words came back to me from the CPR course I had ( in 1959) as he said they would, if I ever needed to do CPR.

I called for ambulance while I perform CPR , not easy with mouth to mouth and hands in those days, buy at some point he showed the definite signs of death but I kept doing CPR just in case. When ALS got here I toldfhim I think he is dead but ALS (Advanced Life Support) said No he has good color ( but then I told ALS I had done CPR until they got here- He looked at the time of call and realized he was dead but tried the paddles as well.

It is true as my instructor told the class in 1959 that if you need to do CPR, it will most probably be on a loved one, and you cannot panic, just do it.

Mt husband had been recovering from a stroke and seemed to be doing so much better, but it was a massive heart attack, a sudden unexpected death.

Two things did give me some comfort over those first months of shock after he died - he was an organ donor and also I am glad that I ,at least , had tried to revive him with CPR.

My pastor, age 60, suddenly died this past April of a massive heart attack, and there was someone with him to do CPR but he died. Still, there is ALWAYS the chance that CPR can help and it is far easier these days to do.

I have mentioned this to many seniors I know but they are not always interested iin learning CPR and many are too disabled to do it anyhow. I think it should be mandatory for a high school to teach it but schools have sure changed a lot since 1959.

I was never aware of any schools in my area that taught students CPR, but it’s a great idea. The Red Cross does it in 2 evenings or 3 if you want the extended course, which teaches using the AED properly. I signed up for the 3 night course because I haven’t been to a course in almost 15 years. I carry a portable AED and also a choke tube. I have saved lives using CPR and the choke tube.

If anyone gets a choke tube, I recommend practicing with it. Don’t just leave it in the bubble wrap. You will need to know how to use it without reading the instructions if the occasion should arise.

 

[StarSong]

I was never aware of any schools in my area that taught students CPR, but it’s a great idea. The Red Cross does it in 2 evenings or 3 if you want the extended course, which teaches using the AED properly. I signed up for the 3 night course because I haven’t been to a course in almost 15 years. I carry a portable AED and also a choke tube. I have saved lives using CPR and the choke tube.

If anyone gets a choke tube, I recommend practicing with it. Don’t just leave it in the bubble wrap. You will need to know how to use it without reading the instructions if the occasion should arise.

We learned as part of health/PE requirements in 1970. An outside group (Red Cross?) brought in a dummy (Annie?), taught us, and we all practiced on her.

 

[911]

We learned as part of health/PE requirements in 1970. An outside group (Red Cross?) brought in a dummy (Annie?), taught us, and we all practiced on her.

I have never known or heard of any schools around here offering CPR, not even for credits.

 

[StarSong]

I have never known or heard of any schools around here offering CPR, not even for credits.

It would be a wise move to do so.

p.s. My HS was in NJ. I just asked my husband, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, and his health/PE class also brought in the dummies and taught the kids hands on CPR, mouth-to-mouth and how help drowning victims or choking victims.

 

[jimintoronto]

Here in the Province of Ontario, high school CPR training has been mandatory SINCE 1999. JimB.

 

[Murrmurr]

911. When you recertify you will see that CPR training has changed quite a bit. One major difference is the practice of doing both mouth blows and chest compressions. Now the practice is to only do chest compressions but at an increased rate.

In my personal experience over a ten year period of time with Metro Toronto Ambulance between 1977 and 1987, I did CPR on at least 200 people. How many did I revive ? About 10. Why ? TIME between the person going vital signs absent, and the start of effective CPR measures. Even if we were able to get to the patient in the hoped for seven minute arrival time, the chances were low that the patient was going to be revived.

Today the availability of public cardiac equipment has improved those numbers, but only by a small amount. If the patient is out in the countryside or on a interstate highway when they go VSA, their chances are low for a recovery because of the time required to get to them. Brain death begins to occur at ten minutes of no respirations and no heart beat. Its all down hill from there, in terms of recovery. JimB.

Another change is, training doesn't include turning a drowning victim onto their side to express water from their lungs. I assume that's because you're not going to give breaths, and maybe also in case there's back or neck injury.

Personally, I would still do it. Especially if my victim is a child.

 

[Murrmurr]

Same here. When my daughter was a toddler she choked on a green bean she snagged from my plate. I slapped her on the back, but she still wasn't breathing. Fortunately, the Lamaze class I'd taken a couple of years included a night of hands-on infant and child CPR. As I'd been taught, I held her upside down by her ankles, and a few hard whacks between the shoulder blades did the trick. Very, very scary moment.

That's probably why I jumped on this offer. I know how quickly a meal can move from calm to terrifying.

My dad held my baby sister by the ankles when she put a bolt in her mouth and it got lodged in her throat. She was about a year and a half old.

Mom tried to get the thing out with her finger first, but only managed to push it down further. That's when she screamed for my dad.

I'd never seen my dad so panicked. But it wasn't a blind panic....he wasn't frozen with panic, you know? That could have been his military training kicking in. He tried blows to her back first, then checked, then a few more blows, and then he saw her color change. Man, I swear his eyeballs turned fiery red and totally filled with water, and that's when he just grabbed her ankles and held her up, and then ...well, it's hard to describe, but it's like she was a toddler-sized ketchup bottle and the ketchup wasn't coming out. Like, he jerked her downward really hard, again and again, yelling "Come on! Come on!!" louder and louder ...and out it came.

I think my mom was on the verge of passing out at that point.

This happened at our dining table. Me and my older brother were sitting there yammering when Bonnie climbed up onto one of the chairs. Mom was about 12 or so feet away, cooking. She's the one who noticed Bonnie was choking; me and Grant were oblivious and dad had just gone into the living room.

I don't remember what he'd been working on, but it was the last time my dad did any sort of project on the dining table.