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It is a good thing: obviously - you were resuscitated. I did a first aid course a few months back and one of the attendees (six in total) had done a similar jo

It is a good thing: obviously - you were resuscitated. I did a first aid course a few months back and one of the attendees (six in total) had done a similar job for a colleague a few years back. Their description was quite something. To be told first hand what happens, corroborating the instructor is a lesson and a half. It isn't pleasant at all and I won't spell it out here. As well as CPR we covered quite a few other things and you are far more likely to encounter choking and the correct response is far more likely to have a good outcome than CPR, so first aid courses are a very good thing. If I end up having to deliver CPR, I will do it without hesitation. I will do the checks first, mindful that I will be performing what amounts to ABH. A small success rate is better than nothing. OK so something like 5-10% is the real success rate for CBR. Now, would you be interested in something like 75%? DEFIBRILLATOR. A defib will talk you through how to use it but a short course will get you going much quicker. They are just like jump starting a car but instead of croc clips, the wires are connected to sticky pads that you stick on the person. They are battery powered and can be very small and portable. They are nothing like as big as you see on old school TV dramas. Upside: ~75% chance of resuss. compared to around 5-10% for CPR. No need to potentially break ribs or other unsavoury side effects of battering a person. Downside: Costs around £1000 a pop - they are reusable. If you own a business, why not grab one, slap it on the wall near to the first aid kit and get the staff clued up. When you get to a certain age (over zero) why not get one at home? I have not yet followed my own advice yet but I think I will quite soon! Have a chat about it with your staff, family and whoever will listen. I think that CPR should be likened to camping without a tent, in the Arctic. A defib: glamping, with free Cava! That said, I will still cause ABH on someone that I deem needs it if nothing else is to hand.

cykros 3y ago
Indeed. They've been available on Amazon since Amazon was still known so much as a book store that it made headlines that you could get them there, what with their not being books and all.
eternityforest 3y ago
If defibrillators are that effective, making them accessible should be a bigger deal. Why are they so expensive after all this time? Maybe there could be an Emergency App included in all phones with offline first aid info, a deadman switch that calls 911 if you let go of the button, and maps of the building you're in with are and fire escape plans, if they published one. Lots of businesses that could afford one still don't have them, why isn't there any legal requirement for million dollar profit places to have them?
aaron695 3y ago
[dead]
richardjam73 3y ago
You can now get single use defibrillators that are cheaper but they have a limited life span.
- cmcaleer 3y ago
  All defibs do. The battery and pads need replaced every few years.
mullingitover 3y ago
I think they work best in combination. The CPR can keep your brain alive long enough for the defib to arrive.
quantumwoke 3y ago
I appreciate the exuberant tone of this message but it’s not quite correct. Defibrillators can get upwards of 60% success rate if given in conjunction with effective CPR. There’s no getting around breaking ribs - defibrillators have to charge, you have to check the pulse and oxygen has to be given. You can’t leave someone pulseless for 60 seconds while you fetch and charge the defibrillator as they will die. All the first aid tools are used in concert.
- groestl 3y ago
  Also, there are shockable and non-shockable heart rhythms. A defibrillator is not a catch-all solution.
  - KineticLensman 3y ago
    (I have Ventricular Fibrillation and have been de-fibb'd twice, the second time by an implanted device). Exactly! Defibs can't restart a 'stopped' heart. They instead resynchronise the muscle fibres when the heart's internal rhythm has got messed up for whatever reason. They can (try to) fix a heart that is quivering rather than beating cleanly. But the defibs themselves can sense the difference and won't apply a shock if the rhythm isn't shockable. You should always get one out and let it try to shock if it can. Coming back to the main point, when I had my first VF episode, CPR kept me alive long enough for the staff at the place where it happened to find their defib. The doctor at the hospital who implanted my ICD told me that surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was something like a 1 in 5 chance. The surgical team were clearly of the view that I was very lucky to be there. And, yes, I got broken ribs. This was the most painful thing. I had too sleep sitting up because getting up from lying gown was too painful. Sneezing (and laughing) were also fairly painful. But a small price to pay.
- JshWright 3y ago
  >There’s no getting around breaking ribs You're usually "just" dislocating the ribs from the sternum (and often tearing the cartilage at that joint). Doesn't feel any less crunchy though...
angrygoat 3y ago
+1 on doing a first aid course. It's a day or two, it's interesting, and it's a good thing that human beings should be prepared and willing to help one another. I'm 41 and I've now twice encountered a situation where I should give first aid. The first time was a fatal collision between a bicyclist and a pedestrian, in an affluent suburb: there were actual doctors working on the pedestrian, so after checking an ambulance had been called, I left – no point in gawking. But I was struck by how little I could have done to help if I'd encountered the accident by myself. So I took a first aid course as soon as I could. A few years later I was cycling and came across a fellow rider who'd come off and landed on his head; he was just lying there in the path. It was amazing how the training kicked in – I checked for danger to myself, established he couldn't respond to me, established he was breathing, carefully put him in the recovery position, used my bike to wall him off a bit so nobody would ride over him, then went for help (I didn't have a phone on me, the one time I happened not to have it!) The injured cyclist was fine in the end, he came around after a few minutes and it was then a matter of persuading him to wait until the ambulance folks arrived; he had no concept that he'd been out for multiple minutes, I think from his perspective it had only been a moment. I'm glad I was able to help though. So yeah, if you are able, do a first aid course.

cykros 3y ago

Indeed. They've been available on Amazon since Amazon was still known so much as a book store that it made headlines that you could get them there, what with their not being books and all.

eternityforest 3y ago

If defibrillators are that effective, making them accessible should be a bigger deal. Why are they so expensive after all this time? Maybe there could be an Emergency App included in all phones with offline first aid info, a deadman switch that calls 911 if you let go of the button, and maps of the building you're in with are and fire escape plans, if they published one. Lots of businesses that could afford one still don't have them, why isn't there any legal requirement for million dollar profit places to have them?

aaron695 3y ago

[dead]

richardjam73 3y ago

You can now get single use defibrillators that are cheaper but they have a limited life span.

cmcaleer 3y ago
All defibs do. The battery and pads need replaced every few years.

mullingitover 3y ago

I think they work best in combination. The CPR can keep your brain alive long enough for the defib to arrive.

quantumwoke 3y ago

I appreciate the exuberant tone of this message but it’s not quite correct. Defibrillators can get upwards of 60% success rate if given in conjunction with effective CPR. There’s no getting around breaking ribs - defibrillators have to charge, you have to check the pulse and oxygen has to be given. You can’t leave someone pulseless for 60 seconds while you fetch and charge the defibrillator as they will die. All the first aid tools are used in concert.

groestl 3y ago
Also, there are shockable and non-shockable heart rhythms. A defibrillator is not a catch-all solution.
- KineticLensman 3y ago
  (I have Ventricular Fibrillation and have been de-fibb'd twice, the second time by an implanted device). Exactly! Defibs can't restart a 'stopped' heart. They instead resynchronise the muscle fibres when the heart's internal rhythm has got messed up for whatever reason. They can (try to) fix a heart that is quivering rather than beating cleanly. But the defibs themselves can sense the difference and won't apply a shock if the rhythm isn't shockable. You should always get one out and let it try to shock if it can. Coming back to the main point, when I had my first VF episode, CPR kept me alive long enough for the staff at the place where it happened to find their defib. The doctor at the hospital who implanted my ICD told me that surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was something like a 1 in 5 chance. The surgical team were clearly of the view that I was very lucky to be there. And, yes, I got broken ribs. This was the most painful thing. I had too sleep sitting up because getting up from lying gown was too painful. Sneezing (and laughing) were also fairly painful. But a small price to pay.
JshWright 3y ago
>There’s no getting around breaking ribs You're usually "just" dislocating the ribs from the sternum (and often tearing the cartilage at that joint). Doesn't feel any less crunchy though...

angrygoat 3y ago

+1 on doing a first aid course. It's a day or two, it's interesting, and it's a good thing that human beings should be prepared and willing to help one another. I'm 41 and I've now twice encountered a situation where I should give first aid. The first time was a fatal collision between a bicyclist and a pedestrian, in an affluent suburb: there were actual doctors working on the pedestrian, so after checking an ambulance had been called, I left – no point in gawking. But I was struck by how little I could have done to help if I'd encountered the accident by myself. So I took a first aid course as soon as I could. A few years later I was cycling and came across a fellow rider who'd come off and landed on his head; he was just lying there in the path. It was amazing how the training kicked in – I checked for danger to myself, established he couldn't respond to me, established he was breathing, carefully put him in the recovery position, used my bike to wall him off a bit so nobody would ride over him, then went for help (I didn't have a phone on me, the one time I happened not to have it!) The injured cyclist was fine in the end, he came around after a few minutes and it was then a matter of persuading him to wait until the ambulance folks arrived; he had no concept that he'd been out for multiple minutes, I think from his perspective it had only been a moment. I'm glad I was able to help though. So yeah, if you are able, do a first aid course.