wherein Liz (re-)learns CPR
Jan. 21st, 2012 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingThank you to everyone who commented about the still-to-be-named Calormene group! I have decided not to call them Renunciates, but I am still reflecting on the various other suggestions.
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In other news, this morning I attended a three-hour lesson on basic CPR at my church. It was offered first to RE teachers (on the theory that if anything goes wrong in a group of children, you really, really want at least one of the teachers to be trained how to deal with medical emergencies) and there may be another session held in a few weeks on a weekday night. Apparently we are looking into getting an AED (automated external defibrillator) for the church, so we got some training in how to use those as well.
CPR has been simplified from when I first learned it as a pre-teen in swimming lessons. (I had reached the point where my YMCA either had to make me an assistant instructor or put me on the swim team, and since I didn't like competitive swimming, teaching it was. I tend to forget about that, but it seems my interest in volunteer teaching goes WAY back.) Anyway, back then there was a lot about tilting heads and checking pulses and clearing airways, which was always rather complicated and intimidating and apparently put a lot of people off trying to give CPR at all. The medical establishment noticed that. Also, studies have apparently shown that the single most important part of CPR is the chest compressions; all the rest is ancillary.
So here is how current CPR theory goes: you see someone on the ground. You check to make sure the scene is safe and then you try to get a response. If the person is not breathing, you get to work. That is your only diagnostic. If a person isn't breathing, his or her heart will inevitably stop soon after, so you're going to need to do CPR within a minute anyway and might as well start now.
First, call 911 or delegate a bystander to call. Then you do thirty chest compression, stop to tilt the victim's head back and give two breaths, do thirty chest compressions, two breaths, etcetera until help arrives. If possible, trade off with another person on the scene because CPR is physically harder work than you might think and your compressions lose effectiveness as you get tired. You can give training on the fly; it's not complicated. Just put the heel of your hand approximately between the victim's nipples, wrap your other hand around the first hand to brace yourself, and push down about two inches. Try for 100 pushes per minute, which is roughly the beat of the Bee Gees' "Staying Alive" or Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust."
You don't have to be perfect, because any help is better than no help. If a person's heart is stopped, they're going to die. Nothing you can do will make them worse. So why not try to make them better?
-----
In other news, this morning I attended a three-hour lesson on basic CPR at my church. It was offered first to RE teachers (on the theory that if anything goes wrong in a group of children, you really, really want at least one of the teachers to be trained how to deal with medical emergencies) and there may be another session held in a few weeks on a weekday night. Apparently we are looking into getting an AED (automated external defibrillator) for the church, so we got some training in how to use those as well.
CPR has been simplified from when I first learned it as a pre-teen in swimming lessons. (I had reached the point where my YMCA either had to make me an assistant instructor or put me on the swim team, and since I didn't like competitive swimming, teaching it was. I tend to forget about that, but it seems my interest in volunteer teaching goes WAY back.) Anyway, back then there was a lot about tilting heads and checking pulses and clearing airways, which was always rather complicated and intimidating and apparently put a lot of people off trying to give CPR at all. The medical establishment noticed that. Also, studies have apparently shown that the single most important part of CPR is the chest compressions; all the rest is ancillary.
So here is how current CPR theory goes: you see someone on the ground. You check to make sure the scene is safe and then you try to get a response. If the person is not breathing, you get to work. That is your only diagnostic. If a person isn't breathing, his or her heart will inevitably stop soon after, so you're going to need to do CPR within a minute anyway and might as well start now.
First, call 911 or delegate a bystander to call. Then you do thirty chest compression, stop to tilt the victim's head back and give two breaths, do thirty chest compressions, two breaths, etcetera until help arrives. If possible, trade off with another person on the scene because CPR is physically harder work than you might think and your compressions lose effectiveness as you get tired. You can give training on the fly; it's not complicated. Just put the heel of your hand approximately between the victim's nipples, wrap your other hand around the first hand to brace yourself, and push down about two inches. Try for 100 pushes per minute, which is roughly the beat of the Bee Gees' "Staying Alive" or Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust."
You don't have to be perfect, because any help is better than no help. If a person's heart is stopped, they're going to die. Nothing you can do will make them worse. So why not try to make them better?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-22 06:44 am (UTC)The best video!
I've been seeing the "nothing but compressions" advice recently -- both because it's simpler, and because it means you don't need a special mask to prevent fluid transfer. I think rescue breathing is only for children now, since it's so much less likely a kid is fibrillating.
I took my CPR course with some engineers. Their reaction to the statistic that CPR without an AED only improves the odds from 0% to 5% was outright funny -- obviously, a good engineer would have made us more user-serviceable.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-22 06:02 pm (UTC)obviously, a good engineer would have made us more user-serviceable
Ha! Yeah, the human body is not the world's most efficient design in that respect.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-22 02:56 am (UTC)It only looks easy! In my senior year of high school, they began to offer a first aid certification class that one could take instead of regular PE (seniors got first choice). When we had performed the compressions on the mannequins and it was hard to apply the needed pressure on them accurately. Based on what you described, it doesn't sound any different from when I learned it all those years ago. I would totally need a refresher course if I had to do it again, but the one thing I do remember being taught was to know your ABC -- (check the) Airway first, (then see if the person's) Breathing, and finally the victim's Circulation (checking the pulse).
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-22 05:50 am (UTC)The ABC stuff is what the medical establishment has decided to simplify, which is fine by me, since it's the part I always forgot and got mixed up about. Now you just do a quick visual/aural check -- is the person breathing normally? If yes, you should still call 911 but no CPR is needed. If they're not breathing normally (or not breathing at all), then jump right to the chest compressions without worrying about checking for a pulse.