Our primary job is saving lives, but we are also here to provide hope and comfort, and to be present to act in time of need. Showing a family that help was there, that everything possible was done, and then giving them time to gather and say goodbye to a loved one is something to be proud of. It is hard to measure its worth.
Do ACLS medications make any difference in cardiac arrest?…Now a new study has come out that makes the best attempt yet to answer this crucial question, as well as another question I have often wondered about. “If the drugs aren’t doing any good, is it the drugs’ fault or perhaps the fault of poor CPR?”
I’ve been doing this a long time — 15 years as a medic — and it amazes me how often I find new ways to do things or think about things. I did another cardiac arrest yesterday. Fairly routine. Yet another nursing home hospital bed one legged diabetic dialysis patient pulseless, apneic, CPR in progress, […]
There is another new study out (published in the March 12 Journal of the American Medical Association that may change the way we do CPR, continuing the emphasis on “Minimally Interrupted CPR.” Minimally Interrupted Cardiac Resuscitation for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Here the jist of the protocol: This novel approach, aimed at maximizing cerebral perfusion, involves: […]
I’m like a kid before Christmas waiting for the new AHA CPR and ECC guidelines to come out. For almost a year I have been following the evidence sheets posted on the Heart Association web site, and nearly everyday in November checked the site for the new guidelines to be posted. When they finally came […]