# CPR/AED and body piercings **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925 "2007-02-27T20:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/1 "2007-02-27T20:21:51Z")
So, my work offered CPR certification training, and I thought “that could come in handy.” _Being as how my husband has a bad habit of trying to take 3 large Ibuprophen at a time and has had to have me heimlich him more than once._ Part of the certification, at least for us, was learning how to use those AED (automatic external defibrillator) thingies. The instructor pointed out that being as how it delivers 100 jules it is recommended to remove any jewelry that is between where the pads are placed (upper right and lower left chest area). She stated that any jewelry left in that area would cause “major burns” to the victim. Now, having had multiple body piercings myself, and knowing how difficult it is to remove a captive bead hoop from _my own_ nipple, as well as the whole “time is of the essence” thought process behind an AED, I asked her if she really thought we should attempt to remove **all** jewelry. She told me that yes, we should definitely remove any body piercings, because the burns would be severe. Ok. I am _not stupid_. I know just how badly one could get burned with that kind of juice running through surgical stainless steel (well, ok, I can imagine it anyway), but seriously – I spend 10-20 minutes trying to find needle-nosed pliers to remove your nipple ring to avoid a _burn_, or I go ahead and shock your ass and _hopefully_ the worst you suffer is a nipple burn? Personally, if I still had my nipple rings in, I’d rather have the burn than someone who has no clue what they’re doing trying to remove it. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/2 "2007-02-27T20:57:35Z")
I’d assume that a responding paramedic would have some kind of cutting tools handy. If your primary focus is on getting a nipple ring out, you can probably do it pretty quickly with just two cuts. Barbells might be a different story. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/3 "2007-02-27T21:45:55Z")
In my CPR training, we were taught to place the pads for the AED so that they would avoid things like body piercings or pacemakers, but the AED could be used with the piercings(or obviously pacemaker) in place. In any case, I’d gladly suffer the burn if my heart restarted. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/4 "2007-02-27T21:56:39Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd] Barbells might be a different story. [/QUOTE] Nah, a boltcutter would do the trick quite nicely. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/5 "2007-02-27T21:56:44Z")
You should be able to place the pads so they don’t arc through the jewelry. The electricity will go in a straight path from one pad to the other, so if there is no nipple ring/whatever else in that path, they should be fine. (One thing I’ve always been curious about…if someone has that condition that causes all their internal organs to be inverted, do they usually have a medic-alert bracelet/necklace saying that? So that if they have to be shocked, they paramedics/nurses/doctors know to flip the way the pads go?) ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/6 "2007-02-27T22:13:23Z")
I know a fellow who had his nipple ring welded closed. The only way his nipple ring is coming out is with bolt cutters or actually ripping the flech. He was actually the person I was thinking about when I asked about body piercings. **percypercy** , yeh, we were told to make sure we placed the pads to avoid such things, but I guess I think about the strange details. Too many times, I have asked “what do we do if…” only to be told “oh, don’t worry about that, it will _never_ happen.” Only to have it happen within a week. **bouv** , another good point. I actually wonder how many paramedics actually look for/read medic alert bracelets or dogtags. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/7 "2007-02-27T22:30:21Z")
I’m not a CPR instructor, but I have been trained in CPR (and I’m a med student), and based on what I know, I think that instructor is making a big mistake by telling people to waste time worrying about body jewelry. If someone is sick enough to be in cardiac arrest, they are in huge trouble and a burn is THE LEAST of their worries! The reality is that, if someone is that sick, they’re probably going to die no matter what you do. Contrary to what the movies show, most cardiac arrest victims die (as in about 90%) even if they’re in a hospital setting and get immediate defibrillation. So, the odds of survival are pretty low to begin with and fall very quickly since the brain starts to die after just a few minutes of no blood flow/oxygen. With every second you waste trying to take out their jewelery instead of trying to restart the person’s heart, that’s another second their blood isn’t flowing and their brain is probably being irreversibly damaged. So, while I am not a CPR trainer, I definitely think ti makes a lot more sense to just get that heart started and worry about the burns later on _if_ the person is lucky enough to pull through. CPR is often pretty brutal (it’s common to break the person’s ribs trying to do CPR), but if it does work obviously burns and broken bones are well worth saving a life. Now I’m glad I don’t have any body piercings. Maybe I’ll get a tattoo on my chest of some CPR instructions just in case. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/8 "2007-02-28T18:05:54Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] …(One thing I’ve always been curious about…if someone has that condition that causes all their internal organs to be inverted, do they usually have a medic-alert bracelet/necklace saying that? So that if they have to be shocked, they paramedics/nurses/doctors know to flip the way the pads go?) [/QUOTE] I know what you’re talking about, but can’t remember what it’s called. That condition is so rare (and doesn’t effect your health enough/at all) that most people will never know they have it unless they get an MRI or major surgery. And **lavenderviolet** is right. If someone needs ED burns are irrelevant. They’re in mortal danger. When I trained for my EMT class the instructors drilled it into our heads not to worry about breaking the patients ribs during CPR. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/9 "2007-02-28T20:53:19Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] **bouv** , another good point. I actually wonder how many paramedics actually look for/read medic alert bracelets or dogtags. [/QUOTE] In an unconscious/unresponsive patient, hopefully all of us. As far as body piercings go, I’ve got more important things to worry about. The only time I’d consider removing something is if it’s somehow interfering with CPR (something I’ve never seen). Also, speaking of CPR, properly done, CPR almost always breaks ribs. I’ve never done it without breaking them. You’re supposed to compress the chest 1.5-2" 100 times per minute in an adult. Your ribs just don’t take that well. St. Urho Paramedic ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/10 "2007-02-28T22:01:17Z")
[QUOTE=lavenderviolet] Now I’m glad I don’t have any body piercings. Maybe I’ll get a tattoo on my chest of some CPR instructions just in case. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I wanted to get a tattoo that says DNR but a paramedic here (Was it you, **St. Urho**?) said it would be disregarded. Also, do you rip out chest hair with those stickers the way the AED manual says to? ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/11 "2007-02-28T22:49:41Z")
I remember that thread, I’m pretty sure that was me. 🙂 We carry razors with our monitor/defibrillators for particularly hairy people. We use them for 12-lead EKGs sometimes, too. (The stickies go on the left chest). ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/12 "2007-02-28T23:28:32Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] I wanted to get a tattoo that says DNR but a paramedic here (Was it you, **St. Urho**?) said it would be disregarded. Also, do you rip out chest hair with those stickers the way the AED manual says to? [/QUOTE] Oh good grief, no male member of my family (other than my 7 yr old nephew) would ever have a chance if the EMTs took the time to do that 😉 ! ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpr-aed-and-body-piercings/393925/13 "2007-02-28T23:44:50Z")
Heh. 😃 Seriously though, you really do need to shave the chest if there’s excessive hair so that you have a good contact with the skin.