Can anyone explain this to me?

[ducklite]

As a CPR instructor (2yrs, American Heart Association) and an EMT (11yrs) I question how long ago your class was and who would tell you that. CPR is cardio (heart) pulminary (lungs/breathing) reresuscitation (doing these functions for the person to try and revive). There are many situations which will use rescue breathing without chest compressions but if the heart is stopped there is never a situation where the breathing would be adequate and not require full CPR of both mouth to mouth and chest compressions.

That's exactly what I was saying--maybe you should reread my post.

If the person has a heartbeat but is not breathing, you administer mouth to mouth but not chest compressions. If the person has no heartbeat, full CPR is administered.

I recertified about six months ago.

Anne

 

[calie_j]

Maybe I misunderstood, the part that I was questioning was "The way I was taught was "If it's time for CPR the victim is DEAD". In other words not breathing--you can administer mouth to mouth. No pulse is when CPR comes into play. If someone has both, leave them the heck alone!"

Even tho there is a good chance the person is DEAD there is also that chance that CPR along with advanced care can save them. I would never leave a victim alone and not make any attempts if they needed both and have never heard that taught. Again, maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying . I have also seen alot of changes in what they are teaching in general public classes vs a healthcare provider class for CPR recently, and thinking about it I haven't really seen trauma addressed in classes it's mostly medical issues they teach so there could be a difference taught that I haven't seen in a class that talks more about trauma.

I know alot of people who think they know CPR and when questioned their last class was 10yrs ago, that's what I thought of 1st when I heard about the guy who was doing CPR on someone who didn't need it because he "knew" CPR. Of course it's hard to tell how anyone will react in a crisis including myself since I usually have a team with me and we back each other up. I don't think he could have hurt the person by just doing rescue breathing, just was risking getting himself puked on or smacked, lol.

Calie

 

[jenelope]

I always call when I witness an accident. I have stopped twice, both times when I was the car immediately following the car or cars involved in the accident, because I was in a position to give a statement. The first one was pretty bad. Rush hour traffic on the interstate near Detroit Metro Airport. Traffic came to a standstill right at the airport's exit/on-ramp, but the guy in front of me never touched his brake. He just plowed into the car in front of him at about 60 MPH. I was extremely lucky that I was keeping an eye on traffic in front of him because I saw brake lights popping up on every car but his, and had increased the distance between his car and mine in case something happened. As it was, I came within a foot of being the third car in that accident. Anyway, I used to be a Ski Patroller and keep my patrol pack in my trunk for emergencies, so I had some First Aid supplies ( I consdier the latex gloves and pen and paper the most important supplies). Several people had called, so my intention was to check vitals and get personal information. One of the other people who stopped was an EMT, so he checked on the man who was at fault (who was clearly in worse shape that the woman he hit), while I stayed with the the woman and monitored her condition. When the EMTs arrived, they had me get a blanket from the rig to prevent shock and keep track of her pulse and breathing. Afterward, the State Police were very pleased that I had stuck around to give a statement. It turns out that the driver of the car in front of me was impaired and the woman he hit was caught completely unaware, so I was the only person who knew what had happened.

 

[Jimdamedic]

I read this thread in interest as I've been a Paramedic for almost 17 years, (man I'm old) and it strikes very close to home for me. As far as CPR goes, I think that when the new guidelines come out next year, lay rescuers will be taught to only do chest compressions for the first 10 minutes or so of an arrest. Studies have shown that mouth-to-mouth is very difficult to teach and something that people are hesitant to perform on a stranger.

I've probably been on 5000 motor vehicle crashes. Unless you have adequate training, there's very little that an untrained rescuer can do on a scene, except call for help. If the police need information from you about the accident, they can always contact you later if you choose to give them the information. Not only is an accident scene a dangerous place, but there is going to be a considerable amount of emergency vehicle traffic on that scene very shortly. Three or more law enforcement vehicles, at least one fire apparatus, and at least one ambulance. Parking and scene congestion are a common problem. I guess what I'm arriving at, is that unless you have training, there's very little that you can do on an accident scene, except get yourself hurt.

Just one paramedic's humble opinion.