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May. 16th, 2007 08:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhienellethI woke up feeling hung over this morning, for no good reason. Sure, we played our usual weekly roleplay session last night, but only til 11:30. That gives me seven hours of sleep. Not bad, and not much different from the usual. But I woke up feeling unspeakably tired, muddle headed, and, well, generally 'ugh'. Maybe I'm getting sick, oh joy.
At my CPR/First Aid class on Monday, the instructor shared this amazing story, and I keep forgetting to share it with you all.
This is a true story from about twenty years ago, when CPR was still the "five compressions, two breaths" thing they've abandoned now for "30 compressions, two breaths" - it seems five compressions is barely enough to start the blood moving through your body, much less get it to your brain, which is the whole goal. Also, the breathing is slightly less important than that blood flow, to avoid brain damage.
ANYWAY, these two hunters were out elk hunting together in the middle of nowhere, on a gorgeous balmy day - not too hot, but clear and perfect. These two guys have been hunting together for twenty-five years, and are very good friends. They're families are close, etc. They're standing together, admiring the view of some canyon they're hunting near on the first day of the season, and one of them suddenly gasps and falls over - he's had a heart attack. The other one starts to administer CPR. This is before the widespread use of cellphones, and even if it wasn't, there wouldn't have been service where they were. He knows he has to get help, or his friend is dead. He administers CPR, and drags his friend back toward the ranger road. About thirty yards, then he stops and administers CPR again. And drags. And then CPR. For over a mile and a half. When he finally reaches the road, he stays there and continues to administer CPR until a truck passes - he flags down the other hunters, they load his friend into the back, and he and another guy take turns administering CPR all the way to the nearest town/hospital, some miles away. They get him there, the medical team takes over and uses a defibrillator on the guy. Amazingly, he lives. With no brain damage to speak of.
He had a less than 2% chance, but as it turned out, he was that 2%. Pretty freakin' amazing, no? I thought so, too. The instructor related this story in response to the question "how long should one administer CPR for?" His answer: just do the best you can, for as long as you can. And then he said it will largely depend on how well you know the person. When everyone looked kind of taken aback by this statement, he shared this story, and said:
~ this guy had to be in peak physical condition to have done that. Period. CPR is exhausting when done right under the best of circumstances, which those weren't. If he'd been out of shape with a huge beer belly, chances are he wouldn't have been able to do it.
~ this guy loved his friend. He wanted to keep him alive so badly, he went through a herculean effort to that end, with the knowledge that all of the effort would more than likely not save him. He did it anyway. Would he have been able to do the same for a complete stranger? Simply put, probably not.
~ if you are doing CPR to someone, they are already dead. You aren't trying to 'save them' or 'keep them going'. They are dead, and you are doing what you're doing for that small percentage chance that just maybe the use of a defibrillator will 'restart' their heart and medical treatment will bring them back. (He likened what a defibrillator does to the ctrl+alt+del option on your computer - it's not like jump starting your car, as much as it is shutting down and rebooting.)
Like i said, he was a good instructor. :) He told other stories, but that one was the best.
At my CPR/First Aid class on Monday, the instructor shared this amazing story, and I keep forgetting to share it with you all.
This is a true story from about twenty years ago, when CPR was still the "five compressions, two breaths" thing they've abandoned now for "30 compressions, two breaths" - it seems five compressions is barely enough to start the blood moving through your body, much less get it to your brain, which is the whole goal. Also, the breathing is slightly less important than that blood flow, to avoid brain damage.
ANYWAY, these two hunters were out elk hunting together in the middle of nowhere, on a gorgeous balmy day - not too hot, but clear and perfect. These two guys have been hunting together for twenty-five years, and are very good friends. They're families are close, etc. They're standing together, admiring the view of some canyon they're hunting near on the first day of the season, and one of them suddenly gasps and falls over - he's had a heart attack. The other one starts to administer CPR. This is before the widespread use of cellphones, and even if it wasn't, there wouldn't have been service where they were. He knows he has to get help, or his friend is dead. He administers CPR, and drags his friend back toward the ranger road. About thirty yards, then he stops and administers CPR again. And drags. And then CPR. For over a mile and a half. When he finally reaches the road, he stays there and continues to administer CPR until a truck passes - he flags down the other hunters, they load his friend into the back, and he and another guy take turns administering CPR all the way to the nearest town/hospital, some miles away. They get him there, the medical team takes over and uses a defibrillator on the guy. Amazingly, he lives. With no brain damage to speak of.
He had a less than 2% chance, but as it turned out, he was that 2%. Pretty freakin' amazing, no? I thought so, too. The instructor related this story in response to the question "how long should one administer CPR for?" His answer: just do the best you can, for as long as you can. And then he said it will largely depend on how well you know the person. When everyone looked kind of taken aback by this statement, he shared this story, and said:
~ this guy had to be in peak physical condition to have done that. Period. CPR is exhausting when done right under the best of circumstances, which those weren't. If he'd been out of shape with a huge beer belly, chances are he wouldn't have been able to do it.
~ this guy loved his friend. He wanted to keep him alive so badly, he went through a herculean effort to that end, with the knowledge that all of the effort would more than likely not save him. He did it anyway. Would he have been able to do the same for a complete stranger? Simply put, probably not.
~ if you are doing CPR to someone, they are already dead. You aren't trying to 'save them' or 'keep them going'. They are dead, and you are doing what you're doing for that small percentage chance that just maybe the use of a defibrillator will 'restart' their heart and medical treatment will bring them back. (He likened what a defibrillator does to the ctrl+alt+del option on your computer - it's not like jump starting your car, as much as it is shutting down and rebooting.)
Like i said, he was a good instructor. :) He told other stories, but that one was the best.
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:15 pm (UTC)*taps chin* Hmm....
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:29 pm (UTC)But yeah, the #1 reason that guy made it was because his friend loved him enough to keep going.
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:23 pm (UTC)That's a really scary thought, but also a pretty amazing one.
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Date: 2007-05-16 04:28 pm (UTC)He really drove that point home - he said years ago, the classes they taught people actually scared them away from doing CPR - for fear of hurting someone. He was like "You can't hurt them. It isn't possible. They're already dead - there is no worse condition than that."
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Date: 2007-05-16 05:00 pm (UTC)I think that's fascinating. I know when I've watched CPR instruction tapes or dramatic scenes with CPR, I've always got the fear that some ribs will be broken in the process, but I guess when you think about restarting someone's heart, it puts things in perspective. A little force and energy may be necessary.
I'm still a bit too chicken to take a class, though.
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Date: 2007-05-16 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-16 05:25 pm (UTC)The costal cartilage? Hmm, interesting. I've actually had costochondritis in the past, so I know that soreness. I mean, it's never been broken, but I've had inflammation there.
Yes, the person will be sore if they live - but sore or bruised is a pretty happy state to be in, when you were dead just a little bit ago. :)
HEE. Very true.
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Date: 2007-05-16 05:52 pm (UTC)We all got it wrong, since they had changed the compression to air ratios (I kept whining that that was for infants!) since we had all gone to class. Looks like work is going to be providing a CPR/First Aid Class since half of us need to stay certified (I should take it every year if I was going to be practicing, but I've gotten slack) - with part of it online. Should be interesting. I halfway slept through the last one. Now that things have changed, I'll actually be paying attention.
The one that stuns me, is that most people don't know not to pull out impaled objects. That one always surprises me. It's keeping all the blood in - leave it there!
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Date: 2007-05-16 05:55 pm (UTC)