Wow...had to call 911 for someone on my walk this AM

Cita

The more people around, the less likely it is that a single person will take the initiative to confront the potential issue. Everyone assumes that someone else will do it, so it never gets done. Every year there are terrible stories about people dying while scores of people did nothing because they assumed there wasn't a problem or assumed it wasn't "their place" to do anything about it.

 Excellent point! When I took CPR, they stressed that the person initiating CPR point to one person and say "you - call 911!" If you just say "someone call 911" everyone stands there thinking that someone else will do it. I imagine things are different now with everyone carrying cell phones, but in the past, it meant having to actually leave and find a phone.

I can attest to getting rattled when actually having to do CPR. I'd been certified for several yrs and had gone thru regular "code blue" exercises. Still, when I had to perform it on a very good friend, I was a mess and didn't perform well at all.

I think I can see the value of mainly chest compressions. You are essentially manually operating the heart, which is to pump blood. Keeping some circulation going will prevent some tissue death, etc. And true, breaths don't mean anything if the the heart's not pumping. I imagine most EMTs work in pairs. One doing all the heart work while the other one has an ambu-bag to force air at opportune moments.

 Wow, Cressida, that was fast!  You REALLY are taking initiative!  I know what you mean about having cell phones.  I don't have a cell or a landline, but I have a cell through work (an old, bulky style that we use to two-way).  When we still lived in an apartment, one day we heard this girl , screaming bloody murder.  We ran down to find her dad passed out in a chair, his eyes rolling back in his head and bleeding from the mouth.  The little boy was standing there shaking, insisting that he already called 911, but I told him *I* was going to call (I found it odd that he was not still on the phone).  I ran and got my cell to call and they were on the phone until the medics showed up.  I thought the man was having a massive stroke or had some kind of head injury, but he was having a seizure because he's an alcoholic and takes blood thiners for some other medical condition.  So, he turned out to be ok once he came to, but at first we had no idea what was going on and all the other tenants just stood there.

As for the AEDs, if they are anything like ours, you will barely even need training.  Our trainer said instead of him demonstrating, he was going to pick someone from the group to demonstrate. Go figure he picks me.  I'd never seen one before in my life, but really all you have to do is LISTEN and FOLLOW the directions EXACTLY as it says.  Each one is a little different, but all of them (at least the ones we have) walk you through it step by step.  It's amazing how different they are than what you see on TV shows. I think the "training" that we needed was just someone telling us that 1) every individual needs to be able to take responsibility and 2) you CAN do CPR and defib without advanced training, you just have to listen to the instructions.

UndefinedMelody

Ottoluv, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't dangerous to continue giving chest compressions to a person with a pulse?

When I walked by the same house this evening, their Christmas lights were turned on and there were lights on in the house. I'm hoping that is a good sign that the poor guy is fine and, if not back at home yet, is not in serious enough condition for his wife to be at the hospital full-time with him. Also, my section of town is quite ethnic Catholic and it's not unusual for families to not decorate for Christmas for a year after there has been a death in the family.  So I'm going to take the lights being on as a sign that no one died in that house today.

my first thought was maybe he got locked out of his house..... wow... if he is senile or has dementia then they need to get some of those childproof doorknob covers!! worked like a charm with my grandmother. she was always slipping out the door and walking off when no one was looking.....

and i need to get myself re certified.. i was in high school when i first took the test in a first responders class.... which was back in 2001. i can hardly remember any of the CPR stuff... but i remember most of the first aid/trauma training.

Good on ya for being there and taking the initiative!!  

At work, we are required to have a certain percentage of us CPR/First Aid-certified.  I am one of these.  I have used my skills at work and at home.  I am happy to say I have never needed my CPR or AED training, but am very,very glad I have it.

 AEDs are very easy to use. They are designed to be used by ANYONE. Last year, a teacher was saved by his students because they had an AED in the area.  These were high school kids, BTW.