Just now...Boy Scout first aid came in handy

[Unisaw]

I just got back from depositing a check at the local bank.  When I walked in, there were a man and a woman grouped around an elderly gentleman slumped in what I thought was a wheelchair.  Upon further inspection, it was a chair from the bank lobby.  Shortly before I got there, the gentleman had collapsed in front of the teller window.  They had lifted him into the chair and were just starting to assess his condition when he passed out cold.  The bank staff had 911 on the phone.

I grabbed him under the arms and lowered him onto the floor.  At first, the other fellow couldn't find a pulse and I couldn't detect any breathing.  We were just getting ready to start CPR when he took a deep breath and I found a carotid pulse.  His pulse gradually improved and he started to get some color back in his face.  I held his hand with my left hand and kept my right hand on his pulse until the paramedics arrived about 1 minute later.  (The firehouse is less than a mile away.)

His daughter was very distraught but the bank tellers barely lifted a finger other than calling 911.

Thank goodness for first aid training many, many years ago in Boy Scouts.  Although it took about 5 seconds to recognize the seriousness of the situation, I actually felt like I knew what to do.  However, it didn't occur to me to ask the bank staff if they had a portable defibrillator.

I think it's time for a CPR refresher course...

[Fly320s]

I just got back from depositing a check at the local bank.  When I walked in, there were a man and a woman grouped around an elderly gentleman slumped in what I thought was a wheelchair.  Upon further inspection, it was a chair from the bank lobby.  Shortly before I got there, the gentleman had collapsed in front of the teller window.  They had lifted him into the chair and were just starting to assess his condition when he passed out cold.  The bank staff had 911 on the phone.

I grabbed him under the arms and lowered him onto the floor.  At first, the other fellow couldn't find a pulse and I couldn't detect any breathing.  We were just getting ready to start CPR when he took a deep breath and I found a carotid pulse.  His pulse gradually improved and he started to get some color back in his face.  I held his hand with my left hand and kept my right hand on his pulse until the paramedics arrived about 1 minute later.  (The firehouse is less than a mile away.)

His daughter was very distraught but the bank tellers barely lifted a finger other than calling 911.

Thank goodness for first aid training many, many years ago in Boy Scouts.  Although it took about 5 seconds to recognize the seriousness of the situation, I actually felt like I knew what to do.  However, it didn't occur to me to ask the bank staff if they had a portable defibrillator.

I think it's time for a CPR refresher course...

Good on you.  Refresher CPR is a good idea as the ratio of breaths to compressions has changed.  Compressions are much more important than breaths, according to the latest CPR rules.

And doesn't everyone know to lay a person on the floor in that case instead of sitting him upright?

[RoadKingLarry]

Can't you just imagine the liability issues the bank could incur if they did have a portable defibrillator and actually used it on a customer that didn't sruvive. Much better cheaper more responsible to let them die in the lobby.

Oh, and well done. You may very well have saved the mans life by getting him to a position that made it easier to breath

[Bob F.]

Roger that! Good job, indeed! Sometimes a little correct first aid is better than too much! You did great. Recert the CPR; ya' never know, the life you save might be mine!!

Stay safe.
Bob

[Standing Wolf]

And doesn't everyone know to lay a person on the floor in that case instead of sitting him upright?

Aw, do you really need to ask? I'll bet not one American in twenty could perform CPR in an emergency.

[El Tejon]

Good for you, Unisaw!  Thank goodness that there are still some people about who know what to do while everyone else is whining, crying and demanding a government check.

I have a very bad experience with a similar situation:

Years ago when I worked for the government a woman who worked in a section of my office had a heart attack during lunch break on the courthouse grounds.  Her co-workers all rushed over to her and sat her on a bench.

I could hear a young man (not me) shouting "no, put her down and let me do CPR."  He was begging them.  The women all clustered around shaking and them even slapping the poor victim.

The EMTs arrived quickly (thanks to the proximity to the downtown fire station), even though she "died" in the ambulance the docs at the ER brought her back.

Shortly thereafter there was a CPR training class that the County Commissioners made available to all county employees.  However, not a single person from that section of the office attended.
 
After that I did not have much faith in my fellow man (or woman).

[Firethorn]

Good for you.  I, of course, have mandatory CPR and first aid training on an annual basis.  Matter of fact, I was supposed to have a class earlier today.  It'll get rescheduled.

As for the liability if the defib didn't work - I think that's covered under good samatarian laws.

If nothing else, consider this:
1.  Judges tend to be older, and more at risk of heart attacks.
2.  And AED substantially increases the chances of survival and reduces the amount of disability afterwards

Ergo, it's in the judge's best interest to encourage AEDs to be everywhere.

[Fly320s]

Don't forget that the A in AED stands for Automatic. They are pretty much idiot proof.  We carry them on our planes and have used them. If pilots and flight attendants can do it, its idiot proof. 

I think it would be next to impossible to cause harm by using an AED on a suspected heart attack victim. So, liability would be zero. If anything, a case could be made (will be someday) that because AEDs are so inexpensive that a business is liable if they don't have one. I don't agree with that, but I'm not a lawyer or money-grabbing scumbag. 

[Jamisjockey]

. If pilots and flight attendants can do it, its idiot proof. 

 

 

 

[seeker_two]

Shortly before I got there, the gentleman had collapsed in front of the teller window. 

Teller probably flirted with him a little too hard....


Good job, Uni....CPR and First Aid is never a bad thing to know...

[SADShooter]

I'm not a medical professional, but I am a chair polisher working in research administration. My boss is involved in a multi-center trial evaluating therapies to improve survival outcomes for trauma and cardiac arrest. The national average for cardiac arrest survival is currently about 5%. Field first aid is critical, not only to survival but long-term quality of life.

[MillCreek]

Speaking as a former paramedic and current healthcare liability expert, most states now have specific laws that essentially immunize people and organizations for liability from using an AED.  This is in addition to the Federal Cardiac Arrest Survival Act that was signed into law back in 2000.  The Act also provides liability immunity for using an AED. 

So people should not hesitate to use, and organizations should not hesitate to buy, AEDs  They truly can be life-saving.  However, even with rapid CPR or use of an AED, you would be surprised at just how low is the percentage of patients who walk out of the hospital neurologically intact.  However, the percentage is even lower without timely CPR and use of an AED. 

[lupinus]

Good Samaritan laws in most states should cover most anyone who is not a licensed medical professional. 

Also AED's are great things and are current models are truly as automatic as they can probably be.  You just open the case and follow instructions, normally in pictures, a five year old can understand.  In short open the shirt, shave any chest hair where the pads will be placed (many AED's come with a disposable razor for this), give a quick once over for metal and remove it (glasses, watches, necklaces, underwire bras, etc.), remove the backing from the pads and place as indicated. From there it takes over and decides if a shock is needed and instructs you how to proceed.  The most manual thing beyond prepping/placing the pads is pushing the button on some models.  You shave the hair so that the pads are against the skin and do not create an ark, same for removal of metal objects.  If the patient is wet try and dry them off, at least the chest between and around the pads, otherwise you run the risk of loosing part of the shock moving over the moisture on the skin, rather then through the heart where it's needed.

BTW current CPR is 30 compressions for 2 breaths, IIRC 5 cycles between checking vitals and a cycle should take about 18 seconds at the correct compression rate.

Going through updated training is always a good idea, the rates and such seem to change every few years as new results are studied.  My only real beef with red cross training is they try and make it to idiot proof, I can see the perks on both ends but I wish it was slightly less so.

Check with your employer, some have designated first aid teams/staff and will pay for your training.  My work has a first responder team and that's how I get my first aid, CPR/AED, and bloodborne pathogens certifications.