Isn’t it typically necessary to tilt a person’s head back to administer mouth-to-mouth? And if the patient is at risk for having broken his neck, isn’t tilting his head back liable to worsen that injury? What an awful choice to have to make.
I know what hospital he’s in. Is there any chance they would tell me anything? I think at most they would connect me to his room (if he’s still alive :() so I could talk to his wife, but I don’t know what I would say to her.
What does that mean, and why do you say so?
CPR can be performed without tilting the neck if need be. When you take a CPR class you get taught both ways. It’s not really a choice, if the victim is not breathing, they will die without CPR.
Your story reminds me of a conversation I had with an old high school friend (recently reunited after about 12 years) recently.
He lived in Burlington, VT and one day a woman collapsed in front of his office. My friend, having always been the type, performed CPR and got the woman breathing again. Apparently she came-to pretty quickly and was lucid. There didn’t appear to be any major damage - just a strange stopping of her heart. However, just to be cautious - she got a ride to the hospital for further checkups.
She stopped breathing in the ambulance and died on the way to the hospital.
The going theory was that there was a blockage that the CPR released until it got lodged in the brain.
It can be scary shit - how fragile life is sometimes. It is one thing when we see someone who is deteriorating away - but another to see a perfectly healthy looking person just… drop.
In some situations, there just isn’t anything you can do. I have a friend that recently was put in a similar situation, and she blames herself for not reacting differently/more quickly/more efficiently than she did, but not everyone is qualified to deal with these sorts of situations, even if they are trained.
Another of our friends responded by giving the Secret Service as an example, how they train intensively so that they don’t even think about taking a bullet when they have to. It’s not the natural instinct to do so.
Intellectually, I know you’re right. I know that we were in far more danger driving to and from the trail than we ever were on it, but emotions are a weird thing. It was a disturbing event. The desperation in his wife’s voice will haunt me for a long time. Her saying, through tears, things like “we were having so much fun” just grinds at my core. They were on vacation. He was retiring this year. The way his teeth were clenched bothers the hell out of me and I don’t know why. And there’s this strange feeling I got almost as soon as we arrived on the scene and I haven’t been able to shake - - a feeling like we did something wrong. Not wrong first aid. I mean wrong like it was wrong for us to be out there on our bikes. We were being naughty and the gods struck this guy down to remind us not to fucking do it again.
Another guy from the scene called the hospital today but the nurse could not disclose any information regarding his condition. Is there anyone that can share medical insight from what I’ve posted? Does Qadgop the Mercotan do vanity searches?
Could you check the Arizona Republic for death notices for people around that age? I took a quick look online and they make you select by name instead of browsing.
Don’t the family submit those? Since he was here on vacation, I doubt it would be in the Republic.
The modified jaw thrust is used for patients that might have spinal injury. (I learned it slightly differently- thumbs on the cheekbones and index and middle fingers on the angle of the jaw).
Yeah, emotions definitely go their own way after things like this, don’t they? I think what you’re feeling is perfectly understandable, and I’d have a very similar reaction to such a thing. So please know that although this advice might be hard to hear, it’s offered from experience: Get on your bike and go for a ride. Sooner rather than later. Doesn’t have to be that particular trail. Doesn’t have to be a long ride. But get out there and do it. Even though that might be the last thing you want to do right now.
One of the most difficult things to accept in life–I mean truly accept on an emotional level–is how much we have to lose, how quickly it can be yanked away, and how powerless we are to prevent it. In the face of random monsters striking you down, the mind looks for patterns and ways to explain things. It’s much easier to think there is a reason. Because if there is a reason, then you can prevent it from happening, and that’s easier to deal with than the realization that sometimes nothing can be done.
And that’s why it’s important when you fall off the horse, so to speak, to get back on it again. Before your mind starts to entrench on the thought that the only way to prevent a fall is to never ride again. So much of our lives is lived wearing blinders and with the simple faith that we are safe and know how to avoid the things that aren’t safe. Coming face to face with how untrue that is at times can shake you to the core. And there is nothing wrong with feeling shaken–it’s a human response. But the way to get back your faith again is to face the uncertainty and live through it.
The gods have far better targets than you, Cisco, or some retiree and his wife out for a bike ride. It sucks that this happened to them, and it sucks that you got to see it. But maybe the reason you were there was so the wife didn’t have to face that all alone. It wasn’t punishment. It was the simple miracle of human existence and caring. For whatever reason, we’re a species that is drawn to help one another, rather than simply stepping over the bodies of the fallen and continuing on our way as if it didn’t matter. Embrace that humanity, but please don’t allow it to limit you. Just one small bike ride. One small reminder that the world is okay, even if bad things sometimes happen.
Be well, Cisco. You’re good peeps.
Thank you.
Cisco, all other arguments we may have had aside, if you find yourself having nightmares, flashbacks, or severe anxiety, go see a doctor about post-traumatic stress. It’s not just for war veterans anymore.
I feel so bad for that man and his wife. I’m glad aid got to them, but I fear his prognosis won’t be good.
Does Survivor’s Guilt sound like what you are experiencing (the guilt of someone who has survived when others didn’t)? I agree with others - this has been a shock to your system, and it might take you a little while to get over it. It doesn’t even have to be particularly logical - for whatever reason, this is bugging you, and it will bug you until it doesn’t (but if it takes a really long time to work its way out, I agree with recommendations to see someone). Also, if you’re a meditating-type person, sitting with your emotions from this can be a very enlightening experience for you - this is obviously touching something deep in you.
OTOH, the Red Cross still teaches rescue breathing in their CPR course and requires it for their volunteers’ certification. It would be nice if all these life saving organizations would agree on this stuff.
The latest news is grim. Basically what I already knew: he’s in a coma, slim chance of survival, paralyzed if he survives. 
These are only guesses, but at the top of my list would be: myocardial infarction, cardiac dysrhythmia, or a stroke.
Ah, I must have missed that part. Sorry.
In my CPR class we were taught both methods (and the head is not really tilted anymore anyway), so if there is a suspected head or neck injury, you immobilize the head.
But what I want to know is this: in my CPR class, the dummy was flat on its back when we practiced the “immobilize the head to protect the neck/spine” thing. That’s just not what I’m likely to encounter. If I’ve found a cyclist or skiier who’s gone ass-over-tea-kettle, the person is robably gong to be in a crumpled heap, possibly face down.
I’d be scared to move them.
Then don’t. I’m not being snarky- it takes several people to properly move someone with a spinal injury.
Yes, but that’s what I’m saying. In CPR class, they showed us how to perform CPR on someone who may have a spinal injury, but at the same time, they didn’t show you what to do when you first come across the victim. For example, they said, “if a cyclist is hit by a car and needs CPR, use this method under the assumption that they have a spinal injury.”
Well, that’s fine and dandy, but only if the cyclist happened to land flat on his back like the dummy on the floor.