THIS is how you save a life. Link below.

[jimintoronto]

The staff at a Peterborough Ontario Home Hardware store saved the life of a customer by their quick reactions when he suffered a cardiac arrest, outside their store recently. Like many Canadian retail stores the Home Hardware store is equipped with a assisted CPR machine/ defribilator. The staff acted quickly, and Paramedics arrived to find the man was "Vital Signs Absent " meaning he was not breathing and had no heart activity on the monitor screen. He was transported to Civic Hospital 4 miles away.

He woke up three days later in the Intensive Care Unit at Civic Hospital in Peterborough. Now back home, he credits the store employees with helping to save his life, along with the Paramedics and the ICU staff.

A note for my American friends...

IN Canada, if you help someone in medical distress, and you follow your training, you cannot be sued. In this case the man recovered well, with no lasting effects. And of course all of his medical costs were paid by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.

link. MSN

Do YOU know CPR ? You should. JimB.

 

[oldaunt]

I have had, and used, CPR training for many years.

 

[911]

In the U.S., OSHA recommends that all businesses have an AED device on hand. It’s not required, but recommended. It’s also the same for CPR training.

We also have the “Good Samaritan Act” where any citizen, including doctors can give emergency treatment to anyone suffering from an injury or health issue without fear of liability or lawsuit.

 

[911]

Also, most 911 operators are trained to give CPR instructions over the phone, or at least chest compressions. I carried an IED in my vehicle and was well trained to give CPR, if necessary. I did bring a few victims back from having no heartbeat with using the AED and also using CPR. I was also fortunate enough to deliver 1 baby during my career. Delivering the baby was considered a privilege.

Not all 911 operators have been trained, but they have a pamphlet in front of them that gives step by step instructions for both CPR and only using chest compressions. The operator just simply needs to read the steps. It has worked numerous of times.

The Red Cross is continuing to give free training for CPR and chest compressions to 911 operators who have not yet been trained and also to untrained citizens.

I was at a baseball game in Harrisburg watching the AA Senators play the Reading Phillies when a man was having a heart attack. A call went out over the PA system for a doctor. I saw a crowd of people surrounded around a man and thought maybe that’s where the emergency was. I quickly was able to get there and a nurse had already started giving CPR. I helped her and together, we brought him back and got him on the ambulance. I called the hospital the next morning and he had been described as his vitals were normal. A few days later he was given 3 stents.

Carrying a portable AED was a real game changer. I recommend anyone that can afford to purchase one to buy it. It may be the best $1500 you ever spent. The PSP also carries a device for people choking. Kids have a habit of choking on hot dogs and spaghetti. Older people that have illnesses like Huntington’s or Parkinson’s also have choking issues. The device is called LifeVac.

Our fire companies also carry these devices.