Hey, good job stepping up. Sadly these circumstances have a terrible survival rate, I think on the order of 1-5%. Of course it's always worthwhile to perform CPR because the person can survive (see Salazar), but it ain't good.
Hey, good job stepping up. Sadly these circumstances have a terrible survival rate, I think on the order of 1-5%. Of course it's always worthwhile to perform CPR because the person can survive (see Salazar), but it ain't good.
Ho Hum wrote:
Hey, good job stepping up. Sadly these circumstances have a terrible survival rate, I think on the order of 1-5%. Of course it's always worthwhile to perform CPR because the person can survive (see Salazar), but it ain't good.
Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. - Gandalf
Hopefully you don't get sued. That seems to be the standard punishment for this sort of good deed.
Well done for trying.
Did CPR on a guy who collapsed at the gym in 2010. I was so scared. He lived. I don't give a single damn about being a hero I never want to do that again.
Did you roll a fattie that night?
Great job Bob. I'm glad there are people like you.
Depends on the area but increasingly the evidence shows, and medical practice on the streets is, that you don't transport unless you get a pulse back. If it takes 35 minutes to get a pulse back then that's what is done.
In this particular case, based only on the information presented, it seems conceivable that the medics in question got some sort of response to their interventions leading them to transport. Treatment guidelines for paramedics increasingly have limitations on how long to treat and when to stop treatment in cardiac arrest patients. Work them for so long with a certain number of interventions (CPR, airway, medications...)... get something back resembling a pulse or cardiac activity on the monitor? Transport to the ED. No response? Sorry folks. There's nothing more we can do.
Quality, effective CPR is *THE* single most important thing for someone in cardiac arrest. It is also something that simply cannot be done effectively in the back of a moving ambulance. Attempting to do so only creates a greater hazard to the EMS crew and other people on the roads.
Kudos to the OP for stepping up to the plate.
Thank you to Bob. You did everything possible.
Medic, I suppose I'm a stupid med student but they roll in all day here in VA while being worked on. What state?
More than one state just to the north of where you are.
As I said, the practice is increasingly moving in that direction. Not every place has picked up on the practice yet. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of "We've always done it this way" people out there. That's a huge hindrance to progress especially in EMS.
I also work in the ER as a PA. We have a lot of cardiac arrests called in the field with local medics calling in with requests to terminate field resus attempts. If they come in to the ED in arrest it's because they coded on the way.
paramedic wrote:Quality, effective CPR is *THE* single most important thing for someone in cardiac arrest.
This.
The-Best-Answer.
Understand. Thank you. Yes, I'm not in the field and very inexperienced in ER med.
Maybe not praise-worthy but we thank you just the same. Might've been one of us or one of our loved ones you tried to save. Good job, dude.
Very refreshing to see a thread on here with such positivity.
Thanks for what you did Bob, you sound like a good guy.
Interesting how talking to the community on the board can help as a release, anonymous or not.
All kinds of things happen in our lives that put our other discussions into perspective.
SMJO wrote:
Hopefully you don't get sued. That seems to be the standard punishment for this sort of good deed.
Well done for trying.
While you can always be sued, I think in most, if not all, states, there are good samaritan laws preventing a judgement against you, even if you do a poor job. Doing something in those situations is better than doing nothing.