This
weekend I was out in the outer archipelago, and, together with some friends,
walked into a man having just had a heart attack.
Three
of us jumped right into CPR (that is, heart compression and mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation). 17-18 minutes before a doctor who happened to be on the island
arrived, and he had a defibrillator. 23 minutes until the ambulance-helicopter
arrived. The longest 23 minutes in my life.
The
man didn’t make it, which really feels like shit. But we gave him a chance, and
that is what everyone could do.
We
all had CPR-training, and that is what this post is all about.
If
you haven’t had CPR-training you really should go a course. Ask your employer
if they could sponsor it (if they are half descent they should) or just do it
yourself.
Next
time it could be someone close to you, and just knowing that you at least gave
them a chance is worth everything. Believe me.
More info on CPR
on Wikipedia, where you can find information in several different languages.
Wow. Sorry to hear it ended like it did, but glad you all could try. I took it 4-5 years ago and have no confidence I could do it. To me, it should be tAken yearly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder.
For me it was maybe 10 years ago, but my wife took it just a year ago or so. We talked it through then, which helped. But your right, this is something you should do regularly.
DeleteSorry to hear that you and your friends couldn't save that man. But it sounds like you did all you could. Apparently now they don't actually teach the breathing element of CPR and emphasise just getting the chest compression's right.
ReplyDeleteEmphasis now is on chest compression, but as we were three there wo did mouth-to-mouth too. Also, we knew it would be a long time until help arrived, so everything to give him a bigger chance.
DeleteHow tragic that he didn't make it and it must be difficult for you and your mates to have seen that after trying so hard to save him.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, this is something most of us don't know how to do. Thank you for posting this.
We were actually on a school trip, so we had 20+ kids to take care of. That helped take the thoughts off what had happened. But it was difficult sleeping that night.
DeleteHappily they didn't see anything, and were taken care of by other parents during the incident.
Sorry to hear he didn't make it but damn good that you tried, I'm CPR trained for my job too.
ReplyDeleteGood for you and those around you.
DeleteAmen to that. Learn it, think about it, practice it. And remember, the person is not dead until the doctor says so. My dad was a paramedic for many years. He had a case where a man had a heart failure in the woods while hunting. His friends kept up CPR while waiting for the paramedics and the paramedics kept it up while the friends helped carry the stretcher through the woods to the ambulance. The man made a full recovery.
ReplyDeleteGood advice. Terrible that he didn't make it, but like you said, you gave him a chance.
ReplyDelete