I posted a thread here that I was in disbelief that if a person was choking you needed their permission before performing the Heimlich. Many off the responses amounted to, “Of course you need permission, idiot.” so I am not at all surprised by the results of the poll.
Interesting subject of the study. Why the public perceives that women receive less bystander CPR.
Hmm. And why are the men’s symptoms considered “typical” I wonder…?
This has mostly already been answered, but just wanted to mention that it’s only been dropped for a solo rescuer, and I think people who are strong and proficient are still OK doing it. It’s just a matter of where someone’s limited efforts will do the most good.
Wow. Those are some drastically different state policies. If you don’t feel comfortable saying the name of the state, could you name the region? I don’t want to assume.
I have training from my city to be a neighborhood emergency team resource. We are covered by the liability laws and indemnification of the city only when we have been officially activated by the city. We are not covered (indemnified by the city) for any other assistance we render, but we would then be covered by good Samaritan laws.
Interestingly, when we are deployed, we can’t use someone’s EpiPen or other injection for them unless we have the proper credentials. But we can help the person deliver it themselves. Including preparing it completely and helping them to hold it in the right place. So all they have to do is push the button. Anyone nervous about it might think about that approach, if the person who needs it is conscious. Read the directions or have them tell you, then have them push the button.
And it went without saying that some people might choose to push the button and take our chances.
I was in NY - but I want to point out (as I mentioned in another post) that this training was somewhat specific to my job. The clerks in my agency didn’t get this training and my guess is that most state employees did not get any emergency training.
There is plenty of sexism in medicine, and calling chest pain a “typical symptom” may be an example of that. But it is also what most people reasonably expect during a heart attack (movies and TV falsely inform many stereotypes). People are still sometimes surprised when this diagnosis is made following nausea, indigestion pain or sweating. Few laypeople would expect the only presenting symptom to be anxiety, “feeling weak and dizzy” or hiccups, but of course it happens. (For the sake of completeness, other common symptoms can include shortness of breath, vomiting, profuse sweating, pain or pressure in the chest or radiating to the jaw or neck or back or left shoulder or stomach, palpitations, fatigue, very rarely hiccups or excessive burping).
Gender differences on presentation and other cardiological data have been well known for at least three decades. They are certainly well known by EMTs and emergency doctors and nurses. Even still, the second article shows worse outcomes for women, and these reasons deserve study and systemic correction when possible.
I think there are protocols about what to say for several reasons. It is one step in assessing whether the person is conscious and oriented. If they do give permission, then no issues about that. If they are unable to answer, you would normally have implied permission if they are injured and you are trying to help. If they say no, then in a multiple casualty situation, you move on.
One could also argue that symptoms like chest pain are more “typical” of heart attacks, in that the other symptoms can be associated with a wide variety of other ailments, many of them much more common than heart attacks. When a man feels a tightness in his chest, it’s a lot easier to conclude “possible heart attack” than when a woman feels anxiety and dizziness, even if you know the gender differences in how heart attacks manifest.
Holy cow. That reminds me of the time I did the choking symbol to a family member and they kept telling me they didn’t know what it meant. I don’t know if they actually knew or not.
It’s been five months since my wife’s episodes, 20 minutes of compressions with the Lucas machine, and she still today mentions her sternum hurts. She’s not sure but she thinks her ribs may have had some slight fractures.
My wife is sort of young, late 50s. But for someone in hospice and in their late 80s, that pressure on their ribs might be too much.
People in hospice nearly always sign paperwork refusing CPR. Truly, CPR flies in the face of the basic principles of hospice, which emphasize life quality and comfort care over prolonging life by means that would reduce quality of life.
I have had a few hospice patients request defibrillation but no CPR. That’s a grey area but may be appropriate in some cases.
Indeed, for most hospice patients CPR would be futile care also. And I as a physician am not compelled to provide futile care.
Unfortunately such procedures all too often get inflicted anyways, especially when some family member arrives from out of town at the last moment and demands all must be done to save a life.
Here is a brief discussion on how to use CPR and AEDs, even if you have never done so.
Ribs are held in place by three layers of muscle, so are unlikely to cause more internal damage. Broken ribs can cause pain, typically for four to eight weeks. Still, I don’t want to minimize there can be discomfort, even if usually treatable.
While DNR makes sense for many people, I have seen people coerced into this decision based on melodramatic descriptions. You should follow your wishes and consider quality of life.
My spouse and i have a retirement business teaching First Aid and CPR to primarily government clients. The focus we were given is on saving lives, limbs, and etcs of co-workers, but the direction we are to give in class is use it anytime it is needed.
We have upgraded our mannequins to about half male and half female - and added bras under shirts. The AHA’s video we use in training says that all CPR will be demonstrated on male patients out of respect for cultural sensitivities.
Cultural sensitivities are important. To a degree. You don’t want people not doing CPR when needed due to a surplus of fine feelings. That could be part of the problem.