Posted on 12/28/2010 7:11:33 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
The epic blizzard kept city medics so busy that -- for the first time ever -- they were given a time limit for performing CPR on patients, The Post has learned.
EMS workers normally call a doctor for advice after working on a patient for 20 minutes.
The doctor normally allows them to keep trying to revive the person, sometimes letting them continue for more than an hour.
But faced with an enormous backlog of 1,300 calls, the medics were told to quit after 20 minutes and move on to the next case.
CPR can last a long time and sometimes medics can work on patients for as long as an hour.
If the certified first responders, in this case firefighters, are on the scene and they are doing CPR for 20 minutes or more, they can call Telelmetry (FDNY doctors) who review the information at hand and decide if they can terminate that call and stop treatment.
Also yesterday, there were five-hour delays in responding to some 911 medical calls and even three-hour delays in responding to "priority" calls, which range from cardiac arrest to a report of an unconscious person.
The number of calls was so high in the city that units from New Jersey were called in to help.
Patrick Bahnken, head of the paramedics and EMT union, said he was told of one case in which police alerted the FDNY that an unconscious person had died after going 90 minutes without help.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
>>Couldn’t loved ones take over? <<
Sure, why not. The chances are very poor if you don’t have some O2 tanks.
I see.
Details, details, that would be important.
So is my son. He had an epileptic seizure and his heart stopped. I witnessed the seizure and 30 seconds or less of CPR restarted it. I doubt I could have or would have kept at it for an hour.
They should invent flying cars like in The Jetsons for emergencies.
That's good news. How much CPR did you receive before being shocked?
A defibrillator might come in handy too. One of those things that’s used to establish a normal rhythm. Then there’s a few drugs that could be suggested. Just little things that the guys use to keep you from drifting off too far and getting comfortable in the beyond.
Anyone who voted for Bloomberg deserves what they got. Pat-downs and naked-body screenings at airports apparently have more priority for citizens than ensuring the city has top-level snow disaster (or any disaster) plans set in place. Bloomberg just oozes confidence that he's in control while people are dying for lack of such a disaster plan. Perhaps he was too busy sending emails trying to get that mosque built?
I wish that doctors would talk to their terminal patients about their wishes. If not stated specifically, we HAD to initiate ACLS on people. One case still haunts me. A hospitalized terminal breast cancer patient who went into VF. She was TRYING to just die peacefully, but we had to put her body through the torture of intubation,chest compressions, central line placements, etc. I talk to my loved ones about this. Make your wishes KNOWN. I felt like a criminal doing this to this lady.
For every minute that you don't get the heart restarted (by an AED or a defibrillator) the chances of survival go down 10 percent. The only exceptions are in a cold water drowning or exposure to cold to the point of hypothermia. Then they are declared dead when they are warmed and the medics still are unable to get the heart started. Therefore it is reasonable to be able to halt a normal code after 20 minutes.
In mass casualty situation you are directed to do scene size-ups using a method called :30 & 2 and can do. The can do patients are considered walking wounded and are green tagged. The 30 & 2 refers to respiration of < 30 or a capillary refill of 2 seconds. Any within those parameters is yellow tagged the rest are red tagged. If they have no heartbeat they are black tagged unless there is adequate resources to handle it, which is very unlikely.
CPR in the field tends to be pretty ineffective no matter how well or how long it is done.
Not the same thing.
I am my companies first responder but it is clear you are a pro. I have enough training and experience to appreciate how much more of both you have than I do.
Great advice about end of life care too.
I did it once. Saved the guys life his doctor said. But not an hour, about 15 minutes ‘till EMS showed up. I was past spent...
That's what I'm talking about. Lots of work.
It is also the stress of not knowing if you are doing it right, and a sense of panic. I had a company CPR class several years before.
My friend just exhailed and slid out of his chair mid sentance. It was surreal. I did get him back but didn’t know that when they hauled him out.
The guidelines keep changing too. Breaths to compressions.
One of my instructors told me, "You are working on a dead person, you can't make it worse." This is true but it doesn't reduce the stress.
Your friend owes you a beer. My son gave me a grandchild!
There’s a fine line between people who choose to forego possibly life saving treatment and those who are pressured into it.
Good for you! My two grandsons are in Germany as of two weeks ago with my daughter and SIL for a 3 year hitch. Not happy about that but that is the Army. FReegars Eaker, and Happy New Year!
I know you are proud of them!
My Tot is 15 months old so all I got him for Christmas is a little bit of det cord.....
I won’t get him a firearm until he is three or so just like my kids.
Happy New Year to you my friend!
LOL!
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