Few survive cardiac arrest, even with hospital CPR

MIZZBONES

03:53 PMJul 02 2009

My 50 year old brother died of a heart attack. Nobody who was at the scene tried CPR. What a shame.

Anne1stoftwo

01:36 PMJul 02 2009

The hospitals have teams set up for Cardiac arrest and they do a good job. The problem is getting to the location of the patient in the two minute time frame.

Jjtwobucks67

01:11 PMJul 02 2009

I wonder if CPR would help me if I had a heart attack or cardiac arrest. After having a thoracic aneurysm repair from the root to over the arch. It seems that is would be risky to push on the chest

GreenGoblin04

04:54 AMJul 02 2009

I'm an ACLS provider in New York. With all we currently know about how critically important it is to do effective CPR, it's time we start looking much deeper into the feasibilty of the automatic compression devices that are being tried in some areas. (Autopulse is one of the brand names out there). Doing CPR compressions is very physically exhausting. If you've never done it, you would be surprised at what it takes to properly compress a human chest and deliver effective CPR for 2 minutes. Conditioned athletes have been shown to tire significantly when they're tested in this skill; and their rate & depth of compression decrease rapidly after the first minute. Imagine a member of the general public trying to do bystander CPR; or nurse, doctor, or EMS crew. A device that delivers compressions eliminates that issue..and frees up the hands of the rescuers to start IV's, give the medicines, and ventilate the patient, whether it's by mask or tracheal tube/other advanced airway. Anyone have...

SGentilejr

03:04 AMJul 02 2009

I think it is a matter of being in the right hospital, with the right heart specialists and staff on duty at the time, along with having the most advanced equipment available at their disposal. The doctors at Westchester Medical Center in NY saved my brother's life after a series of heart attacks one after another that caused sever damage to his heart. The doctors there quickly performed emergency open heart surgery on a Sunday afternoon and repaired 5 blockages. His heart was so damaged that any attempt at closing his chest after the surgery stopped his heart again from beating because of the pressure that attempting to close his chest placed on his heart. They kept him alive for the next 6 weeks on the best available heart pumps and respirators machines until his heart healed enough to close up his chest. Although we are sure God and our prayers played a big roll in saving his life, the staff at Westchester Medical Center did everything possible in their efforts to save his life

Marjorum

12:12 AMJul 02 2009

The title of this article would have you believe that "Hospital CPR" is superior in some way. This is not true. Many hospitals are set up in such a manner that "codes" are not quickly recognized and in addition, few hospital employeees (even doctors and nurses) are Advanced Llife Support certified (the people who work codes). The people best able to work a code are paramedics, after all, they do it all the time. I worked in several hospitals. Unless a patient is in a cardiac monitored bed, no one will know when they code and time is critical. Hospital doctors responding may not know how to work a code. Have seen both happen numerous times. Used to work EMS in a very rural area with a 15 bed hospital nearby. As a paramedic the hospital would call me, especially at night, to come to their facility to work their in-hospital codes because no hospital personnel were ACLS or had much of a clue of what to do. The ward had only an Automatic Electric Defibrillator with no rhythm screen. ...

Marjorum

11:30 PMJul 02 2009

This article is very misleading. Several years ago, a study was done in the Phoenix area, involving first responding Advanced Life Support medic crews from several cities. who had been trained in revised CPR and resuscitation techniques. 47% of non-hospital "codes" survived to hospital discharge. Several new things turned out to be critical: 2 minutes of CPR before any defibrillation and the rate and character of chest compressions. Another critical item was the length of "down time" before initiation of effective CPR. These techniques have been adopted by the American Heart Association and by MOST (unfortunately not all) EMS organizations throughout the country. The Phoenix study was tightly controled and illustrates the potential save rate that can be attained by EMS crews with proper training and a patient receiving a fast response by EMS.

SuzyQ807

10:52 PMJul 02 2009

Sounds like what worked in Seattle could be a model for other places to help the survival rates - kudos to all those trying to make a difference!