New AHA 'Hands Only' CPR Video (starring Ken Jeong)

[DevonDiver]

Had to share this... both educational and highly entertaining (I only wish PADI made training videos this good)




Ken Jeong is, incidentally, a licensed MD. Probably the funniest Doctor alive

[Hawkwood]

Thanks very much. I've have passed that one along!

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Remember that "hands-only" CPR is for untrained lay rescuers only. The AHA's rationale is that it's easier to give telephone instructions to someone who's not trained in CPR that way, and in most cardiac arrest cases, advanced life support is just a few minutes away, so the patient still has enough circulating oxygen to maintain life, or at least the potential for it. Also, simplifying CPR makes it more likely that an untrained lay rescuer will initiate chest compressions.
Trained rescuers will still give rescue breaths between compressions at a ratio of 30 compressions to 2 breaths. For divers, who have more of a chance of encountering a drowning victim than most: it's important to remember that drowning victims get BOTH compressions AND ventilations.

The AHA guidelines for CPR can be found here.

[doctormike]

As a former ambulance corps volunteer, I well remember doing "old school" cpr back in the 1970s. Let me just say that mouth to mouth resuscitation was one of the most disgusting that I encountered as a teenager! It still has it's place, but this is a great public service announcement, and DDM is of course right about diving injuries.

Here's a good faq about this...

M

[Duke Dive Medicine]

As a former ambulance corps volunteer, I well remember doing "old school" cpr back in the 1970s. Let me just say that mouth to mouth resuscitation was one of the most disgusting that I encountered as a teenager! It still has it's place, but this is a great public service announcement, and DDM is of course right about diving injuries.

Here's a good faq about this...

M

Good link. I'm right there with you on the mouth-to-mouth... nothing like seeing a cardiac arrest victim first-hand to make a good case for having a pocket mask or CPR microshield readily available. It's worthwhile to note, though, that the AHA has no evidence that there has ever been a disease transmitted through direct mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing (as disgusting as it may be!) Here is a link to buy various CPR aids from the Red Cross. I recommend the mini CPR keychain - I've carried one for years.

[doctormike]

It's worthwhile to note, though, that the AHA has no evidence that there has ever been a disease transmitted through direct mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing (as disgusting as it may be!)

Heheh... .WELL, I was hoping to avoid being TOO explicit about what happened on that call back in 1978 between me and that patient, but let's just say that we had lunch together.



Since then, I carry one of these so that I can stay even further from harm's way...

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Heheh... .WELL, I was hoping to avoid being TOO explicit about what happened on that call back in 1978 between me and that patient, but let's just say that we had lunch together.



Since then, I carry one of these so that I can stay even further from harm's way...

Gack. There's a special place in heaven for you. Hopefully there wasn't any secondary reverse peristalsis involved Did the patient survive?

I've never seen that airstat device before but I'll be getting one. A bit pricey but I bet the people who've used it say it's worth it. I don't guess you can keep it sterile but that's what antibiotics are for.

[Tigerman]

Brilliant video. The fun of it probably also make it stick better than some boring old instructional video

Unfortunately, I live in an area where advanced medical help is anything but a few minutes away - an ambulance will at best be using 30 minutes to get here.
Just this summer we lost one of the guests in our cabins as a direct result of the distance to the closest ambulance in combination with the fact that the other guests in the cabin did not know cpr. (The reception staff, who at teh evenings is alone at the hotel cant leave)

[doctormike]

Gack. There's a special place in heaven for you. Hopefully there wasn't any secondary reverse peristalsis involved Did the patient survive?

Gack indeed! Compressions kept up in the rig until we got to the hospital, did not regain a pulse, and I heard that the code was called in the ER.

I've never seen that airstat device before but I'll be getting one. A bit pricey but I bet the people who've used it say it's worth it. I don't guess you can keep it sterile but that's what antibiotics are for.

Sort of like a parachute - if you ever need it, it's terrific! Really a good conversation piece too. No need for antibiotics - the upper airway is about as dirty as it gets in the body. Elective tracheotomy in the hospital isn't even a sterile procedure.

[doctormike]

Brilliant video. The fun of it probably also make it stick better than some boring old instructional video

Unfortunately, I live in an area where advanced medical help is anything but a few minutes away - an ambulance will at best be using 30 minutes to get here.
Just this summer we lost one of the guests in our cabins as a direct result of the distance to the closest ambulance in combination with the fact that the other guests in the cabin did not know cpr. (The reception staff, who at teh evenings is alone at the hotel cant leave)

I dig out earwax for a living, so I'm hardly an expert on this stuff, but my 2 PSI:

There are VERY few conditions apart from sudden lethal arrhythmias that can be salvaged by CPR in the field. Certainly, a respiratory arrest due to airway obstruction may be field reversible, and the widespread availability of those automatic defibrillators have saved a number of lives in patients with arrhythmia. But if you are talking about sudden cardiac arrest from an underlying cause that is not quickly reversible in an ER, prolonged courses of CPR usually don't have great outcomes.

One notable exception that I saw was a 1 year old with severe congenital airway abnormalities who arrested in an ICU, had CPR for about an hour, and survived to go on to get reconstruction. Amazingly, he is a totally normal toddler now! But that's the exception, not the rule...