Writer's Block: First Aid
Have you ever performed CPR, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or the Heimleich maneuver on someone in an emergency?
I've never done one of these Writer's Block things, but couldn't help this one.
The answer? Of course. All the time. By the way, you don't ever do the Heimleich maneuver anymore - if they are conscious and coughing, it's 5 short sharp hits with the heel of your hand to the upper back. It's to attempt to jiggle the obstructing object around so that it can be coughed up. If they're unconscious, then you call for help and administer CPR.
I actually love CPR. I get a kick out of it. I know that sounds macabre, but when the chips are down and there's no output, jumping on someone's chest and keeping the brain and the coronary arteries perfused is something that I treat as a challenge. My aim is to keep on beating the chest to keep a mean arterial pressure of at 70-90mmHg, which is a challenge. However, although the recommendations are that at least two people take turns at chest compressions, I try to keep going - I usually throw people off it and try to stay on it as long as possible. I get all red in the face, but I enjoy it. It becomes an endurance challenge for me.
My longest stint was 25 minutes of chest compressions, keeping a mean arterial pressure of greater than 70mmHg, until we discontinued CPR at the 30 minute mark.
The only problem with this is that being an anaesthetic registrar, I'm usually required to take the airway, and that means I'm usually ruled out of chest compressions. Damn.
I can still remember the first time I ever did CPR - I even wrote about it (sorry, you have to be on the friends list to read it), back as an intern.
It was that experience, though, that made me want to do an Anaesthetics term, and then I discovered I wanted to be an Anaesthetist. So you can say that my first CPR experience affected the course of my life.