Have you ever given cpr/needed cpr or watched someone get cpr?

Question

im still in shock! my friend drank too much and passed out in her mates pool. her mates brother pulled her out but she wasnt breathing and didnt have a pulse. he tried breathing into her but there was too much water in her, her chest wouldnt rise as he breathed into her. so he had to straddle her and pump her stomach and chest for like 3 minutes. that brought up alot of water but her chest still wouldnt rise so he got on his knees behind her and sort of sat her up and did the heimlich. 30 seconds or so of that worked then he started blowing into her mouth and giving her chest compressions. nothing was happening tho, his neighbour who went to school with them saw what was happening came over and started compressions while her friends brother kept blowing into her mouth and clearing all the water out. i feel so bad because when the neighbour came to help he pulled her bikini top off to give her the compressions. i know it was just so he could get a better position to do the compressions but i remember thinking how embarassed shed be if she could see what was going on! not the most important thing to think about at the time i know!! the paramedics came and used the ambu bag thing. it took them awhile to sort out though cause again her chest wasnt rising when theyd breath for her with the bag so they had to use this suction thing first. they wiped her down with the towel and shocked her with the defibrillator 3 times. the 3rd time even left a slight red mark on her chest. her heart stopped twice more on the way to the hospital and she had to be brought back with 5 more shocks but shes come out of it all relatively unharmed. does anyone else have any experiences with this?

Answer 1

Not to that severity but I was in a shopping mall once and an old man with a trach collapsed on the ground, wasn't breathing, and had no pulse so I immediately started CPR. It was very disturbing to hear his ribs break. Since he had a trach I had to breath via his trach tube which was not very pleasant and he also threw up from the compressions. I performed CPR for about 6 minutes before a Dr. walked by and took over. It took me about 2 hours to regain my composure and get on with the rest of my day.  

Answer 2

Yes. I performed it on my dad the night he died. Unfortunately, his lungs were already full of fluid due to CHF (congestive heart failure) and he couldn't be saved even by the firemen who were there within 3 minutes. (My parents lived around the corner from the fire station.)

Answer 3

In my tenure as a registered nurse, I have participated in may instances of cardiac arrest, what we in the nursing field call a "code blue". Many institutions have different names for this, but typically code blue is recognized universally.  When the chest does not rise and fall, there is either an obstruction or the breaths are not effective. Most times that ineffectiveness that has to do with head placement.

Your friend is a lucky woman even if all in attendance saw her nakedness, which is minor, compared to all witnessing her potential demise. Alcohol and pools do not mix. Hope she has learned from this or she is doomed to repeat this behavior, which next time could be much worse!

Answer 4

Your Answer:

I performed it on a person in a car crash. I was on the way back from being on the weekend shift, and I was just getting off my bus when I heard a loud bang. I walked round the corner, and saw that there were a lot of people gathered around a car (I live in a very busy part of Manchester).

I was hardly inconspicuous as I was still wearing my scrubs and had a stethoscope hanging from my pocket, so I was quickly grabbed and had to give an old man CPR.

However, his lung had collapsed, and there was nothing anyone could do as the injuries he sustained were far too severe. He died on the scene.

But I suppose that's life at the end of the day.

Although I have used a defibrillator a fair few people at the hospital, some have made it, and I'm sorry to say that some have not. It's just luck of the draw at the end of the day.

Answer 5

I have watched simular happen.  I have several friends who are paramedics and have been on ambulance ride alongs.  I am cpr certified, but have never done it in real life.

I did spend 2.5 weeks on life support in septic shock though.  It was during cancer treatment.  I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever, was admitted 30 mins later and an hour after that was in ICU and then I was on life support.  I didnt need cpr because the machines were breathing for me.  My heart never actually stopped, but it was close.  It was incredably traumatic and a year and a half later am dealing with ptsd from it.