CPR in water when close to shore / boat what to do first?

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You can't do CPR unless you have the patient's chest lying on an incompressible and rigid support of some kind. It's impossible in the water.

The patient who is not breathing most likely has no circulation, either; but in a few cases, you may have someone who is narcotized from high CO2 because they got laryngospasm, or because they tried to avoid drowning. One or two "rescue" breaths may be enough to stimulate spontaneous respirations, which would significantly increase the chance of survival.

I firmly believe that, if you have an unresponsive diver who is not breathing, you should give the best two rescue breaths you can, and then two like crazy to the nearest firm ground. Remember that a patient wearing a backplate doesn't necessary need SMOOTH ground, but just someplace you can support the plate, because they make excellent platforms on which to do CPR.
 
What about attempting modified chest thrusts --if you can-- as well as rescue breathing as you're towing the victim? (Modified chest thrusts from behind as in the modified Heimlich maneuver. . .)

What if you're downcurrent in a remote location with a victim in full arrest on the surface, and a skiff from a live aboard coming for rescue?

(You gotta try and do what you can do for as long as you can. . .)
 
You can't do CPR unless you have the patient's chest lying on an incompressible and rigid support of some kind. It's impossible in the water.

The patient who is not breathing most likely has no circulation, either; but in a few cases, you may have someone who is narcotized from high CO2 because they got laryngospasm, or because they tried to avoid drowning. One or two "rescue" breaths may be enough to stimulate spontaneous respirations, which would significantly increase the chance of survival.

I firmly believe that, if you have an unresponsive diver who is not breathing, you should give the best two rescue breaths you can, and then two like crazy to the nearest firm ground. Remember that a patient wearing a backplate doesn't necessary need SMOOTH ground, but just someplace you can support the plate, because they make excellent platforms on which to do CPR.

Lynne,

you mentioned using the backplate, would you ditch the tank and leave them in their harness?

I suppose with doubles you could leave the tanks on, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't carry most people wearing doubles out of the water.
 
I have been a firefighter paramedic for some time now and probably done cpr a few hundered times. The american heart ass. just changed what they call bystander cpr or basic cpr to just chest compressions. This makes sense for a few reasons. 1 the amount of o2 being delivered with a rescue breath is minimal at best. 2 most of a rescue breath does not even make it to the lungs it goes in the stomach.3 your rescue breath is comprised mostly of co2. 4 if you are not doing good compressions you are not moving any oxygenated blood around the body which would include enough risidual oxygenated blood to support brain function. That all being said your best bet is to get to solid ground and do really good chest compressions at a rate of 100 or more
 
This was my thought.
Dump the tank and the weight belt, use your fist or a weight to provide presure on the heart, work from behind.
It would be very hard work as you would not have gravity on your side but it might be possible.
What do people think?

What about attempting modified chest thrusts --if you can-- as well as rescue breathing as you're towing the victim? (Modified chest thrusts from behind as in the modified Heimlich maneuver. . .)

What if you're downcurrent in a remote location with a victim in full arrest on the surface, and a skiff from a live aboard coming for rescue?

(You gotta try and do what you can do for as long as you can. . .)
 
This was my thought.
Dump the tank and the weight belt, use your fist or a weight to provide presure on the heart, work from behind.
It would be very hard work as you would not have gravity on your side but it might be possible.
What do people think?

I don't think it would work. I am 210lbs, and I generally have to put all my weight into a thrust to get the green light to go off on a CPR dummy. Even if I could generate it, I doubt I could sustain it.
 
Don't bother with CPR until on boat or shore. Best thing to do is strip gear and breaths. It is also very hard to assess circulation in water.
 
Fast movement to a firm surface (boat or land) prior to starting compressions. Access an AED if it is available for a fast shock, if indicated. If the person is in atral fibrillation (a shockable rhythm), every minute prior to shock loses 10% of the chance of bringing the heart back to a normal rythm. In other words, after about 10 minutes, your chances are approaching zero. This is one of the very sad reasons that out of hospital CPR has about a 17% success rate.
 
Chest compressions are way more effective than rescue breathing for getting oxygen to the brain ... don't choose a slower transport method in order to do rescue breaths ... you can get a patient to shore or boat much faster using a tank tow than you will using a do-si-do ... and those minutes you save may well be the difference between a rescue and a recovery ...

I firmly believe that, if you have an unresponsive diver who is not breathing, you should give the best two rescue breaths you can, and then two like crazy to the nearest firm ground.
While I fully agree with these comments and would do exactly that myself, people should be aware that there are those who do not agree with this and will teach something different. If you get different instruction, ask why and then think for yourself.

---------- Post Merged at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:03 PM ----------

Hope I am not hijacking this thread, but I was speaking to an insurance agent about life insurance. When the question about scuba diving came of course I answered it honestly. Anyhow when I asked why that would put me in a different rate the lady went on to say that well you know what happens if your below a certain depth and they have to bring you up? I stated no I am not aware, she went on to tell me that they have to basically drowned you so that they can bring you to the surface.

To be honest, this makes no sense to me at all.

The truth of the matter is that a person who is unconscious at depth is not likely to survive no matter what you do. The ascent really has no effect. The insurance rates cannot be based on that concept.

In another thread, someone from the insurance agency said the higher rates have nothing to do with scuba itself but is rather based on the fact that people who scuba dive are apparently more likely to participate in a variety of high risk activities. Most of the people I dive with, for example, are rock climbers.
 
I will echo what almost everyone else has said. In water CPR does not/cannot be done successfully. I learned CPR back in the 60's as a scout. High school and college water sports and teaching PADI Rescue class each quarter for nearly 10 years. You've got to have a hard surface to push against.

I like the tank valve tow for speed and safety. My students do the rescue drills taking the gear off and swimming with an unconscious diver and a dummy. This builds confidence and incorporates task loading with having to give rescue breaths every five seconds.

Never fails in every class the question gets asks wouldn't it be faster to simply swim the diver straight to the boat or shore. Absolutely. Why waste valuable minutes on something that is very marginal at best.

I also tell them that they could encounter a situation where gear removal is necessary hence the training.
 
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