Experts now recommend hands-only CPR

San Luis Obispo Tribune ^ | Mar. 31, 2008 | STEPHANIE NANO

[neverdem]

AP Photo
In this photo released by Jared Hjelmstad, Hjelmstad, right, of Temecula, Calif., visits with Garth Goodall at Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta, Calif. Wednesday, February 27, 2008, days after Goodall collapsed while working out at a health club. Hjelmstad used hands-only CPR to keep Goodall's blood circulating until paramedics arrived and took over.

CPR. A lifesaving action.

Sarver Heart Center

[Man50D]

In such a case, the victim still has ample air in the lungs and blood and compressions keep blood flowing to the brain, heart and other organs.

I can't help but wonder if this has been true all along then how could the medical profession be so off the mark as to recommend mouth to mouth in the past?

[buccaneer81]

We had an interesting thread earlier over here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994595/posts

[ModelBreaker]

I can't help but wonder if this has been true all along then how could the medical profession be so off the mark as to recommend mouth to mouth in the past?

We still understand how things work in the body very generally or not at all. They made their best guess. It makes sense that putting air in the lungs would be a good thing.

Then, their guess gets implemented and it works. So people use mouth-to-mouth for years. Then along comes AIDS and it takes years to notice that folks are skipping the mouth part and then more years to accumulate enough data to actually measure and make a determination whether one method or the other works best--you can't really do a controlled experiment. "OK, all those who volunteer to have a heart attack and get Push Only treatment, please move to the right side of the gym . . . " :)

So give 'em a break. They saved a lot of lives even though the technique they taught was overinclusive and kind of gross.

[kromike]

Heh...I’m sure Newman and Jerry will be relieved to hear that...(Seinfeld - “The Pool Guy”)

[steve86]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994595/posts

[MinuteGal]

Thanks for posting. I sent it to everyone on my list who lives across the fruited plain.

Leni

[buccaneer81]

Thanks.

[Kirkwood]

This is fine until the O2 runs out in the lungs and the subject is brain dead. If the subject is turning blue, it is over with unless you can get air into them.

[neverdem]

I can't help but wonder if this has been true all along then how could the medical profession be so off the mark as to recommend mouth to mouth in the past?

Medicine is like any other field of learning. New knowledge is constantly being aquired, but we don't know what we don't know. I've must have learned six variations of CPR since 1969.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the URL.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[TChad]

Compressing and releasing the chest will cause some exhalation and inhalation if the airway is unobstructed. Apparently that is sufficient to sustain life, but it is hard for me to believe that the conventional technique is not superior if done properly. The conventional technique provides more oxygen to the patient, and increased gas exchange.

I wonder if these recommendations are based on real-world statistics, that reflect a substantial percentage of cases in which conventional CPR was done improperly.

This thread brings back some unpleasant memories.

[girlangler]

Thanks so much for this ping, neverdem.

I was with my Dad in the early 1980s, when he suddenly fell backwards with a massive heart attack.

This attack resulted in his death at age 56, and I tried, but I did not know CPR. I took a CPR class shortly after that, and blamed myself for a long time because I didn’t know what to do to save my Dad when this happened. I was young at the time, didn’t bother to learn this technique.

I rode with Dad in an ambulance to the ER, and was devastated as I watched them shock him in the back of the vehicle (the ambulance drivers tried to calm me by telling me it was such a massive heart attack nothing I did would have made a difference). He squeezed my hand one time as I stood beside him in the ER, and then it was over, he was brain dead, although he lived six days on life support.

It took me a long time to get over that. Everybody should know how to do CPR. And if the chest compressions alone can save a life, I think more people in the middle of a crisis will be able to respond, and know they did everything possible to save a life.

[girlangler]

Thanks so much for this ping, neverdem.

I was with my Dad in the early 1980s, when he suddenly fell backwards with a massive heart attack.

This attack resulted in his death at age 56, and I tried, but I did not know CPR. I took a CPR class shortly after that, and blamed myself for a long time because I didn’t know what to do to save my Dad when this happened. I was young at the time, didn’t bother to learn this technique.

I rode with Dad in an ambulance to the ER, and was devastated as I watched them shock him in the back of the vehicle (the ambulance drivers tried to calm me by telling me it was such a massive heart attack nothing I did would have made a difference). He squeezed my hand one time as I stood beside him in the ER, and then it was over, he was brain dead, although he lived six days on life support.

It took me a long time to get over that. Everybody should know how to do CPR. And if the chest compressions alone can save a life, I think more people in the middle of a crisis will be able to respond, and know they did everything possible to save a life.

[gibsosa]

bump for later

[lmr]

This ruins my CPR fantasy involving Eva Longoria...

[B4Ranch]

>>I think more people in the middle of a crisis will be able to respond, and know they did everything possible to save a life.<<

You said it all!

[billmor]

ah nothing like PC CPR now...First thought: suppose the victims airway is obstructed by vomit or detritus ?...you have to make sure the airway is clear...all the hand pumping isn’t going to get oxygen into his or her system if the airway is obstructed...for CPR you need Oxygen flow plus Blood flow to keep the victim going..

The article does point out that Oxygen/air is neeed, but it is almost misleading if people miss some key points and say oh ok, hands only is ok now...Thats only if the patient can breath freely

[TChad]

This ruins my CPR fantasy involving Eva Longoria...

You really do not want for that fantasy to come true. There is absolutely nothing erotic about a woman who is doing her best to die on you.