"If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job". -Tom Landry
As a healthcare provider, it is mandatory to be CPR/First
Aid certified. Therefore, every 2 years comes that daunting day that I have to
take one of my precious days off to sit in a small, stuffy room, with 10 strangers, renewing my certification.
Well folks, that lucky day… was today. 8:30am-3:30pm. As
annoying as it can be to be in a mandatory class on your day off, I really
left that room ready to save some lives! Thank goodness I’ve yet to be in a
911 situation, but at least I feel that much more confident if one does occur. (BTW,
for those who are freaking out since you forgot the ratio of chest
compressions to breaths, it’s still 30:2. But if you read this and forget
again, just do chest compressions!)
For those who are required to have CPR/First Aid training,
sweet. For those who aren’t, I highly suggest that you take at least a basic
course in it. For those mom’s and dad’s who have young kids, without a doubt, become certified. And
offer to pay for the course for your child’s nanny or babysitter. I’m actually pretty surprised during all my
years of babysitting, not one time was I asked if I had CPR/First Aid training.
For those who think the ABC's when they hear CPR, that's pretty outdated information. It would be a great idea to go
to a class and learn the updates on how to be most effective incase an emergency occurs (You never know!)
Each time I take the course, it has some slightly different (and thankfully more condensed) information. This is because as studies and
surveys are being performed, the Red Cross and American Heart Association
reconfigure the courses in order to be more affective at saving lives.
I am going to list the things that I learned during the
course today. Some of you may think, “well everyone knows that”. I will
shamelessly admit that I didn’t know many of these, or not in as much detail.
EPI PENS:
Epi pens (used as treatment for anaphylactic shock) has a
predetermined amount of medication for that person. In order words, one epi pen
should not be used for another person.
INHALERS:
There are two types of inhalers, (treatment for asthma)- a
fast acting and slow acting/long term corticosteroid. For an acute asthma
attack, an individual needs their fast acting inhaler.
FIRST AID/AED
LOCATION:
For my healthcare professional peers, especially those
working in outpatient ortho, do you know where the AED/First Aid kit in your
clinic? Admittingly, I do not. I have a pretty good guess since I have seen our
First Aid kit, and I have seen my clinic manager change the batteries of our
AED in a similar location as where the first aid kit is. But I can’t say I’ve
ever seen it/touch it at its resting place and said, “Okay, this is where this
is in case of emergencies”. So friends, do what I am going to do the second I
get into work tomorrow and find out where the AED is and ask if it is the only
one in the clinic. If it’s not, where are they others located?
PACE FOR CHEST
COMPRESSIONS DURING CPR:
If you aren’t sure if you are doing the correct pace for
chest compressions (which should be 100-120 compressions per minute), then just
sing to yourself the Bee Gee’s – Stayin’ Alive (103 compressions per minute to
be exact). That song’s beat is the correct pace, and also sending out good mojo
into the universe. Another song with the correct pace is Queen’s- Another One Bites the Dust. But, I think
we could all agree, who wants that thought going through your head while you
are trying to save someone’s life!?
YOU DON’T HAVE TO
CHECK PULSE!
New CPR guidelines no longer require you to check the
person’s pulse. Studies have found that 1) people where doing it ineffectively,
and 2) it’s taking up too much time.
CHEST COMPRESSIONS
ONLY IS FINE:
I already mentioned this above, but if you are nervous to
give rescue breaths to someone you do not know (not sure if they have any
communicable diseases), you don’t have any protective barrier, (or you just
can’t remember what the heck you are supposed to do because lets face it, this
is an emergency and it’s somewhat normal to freak out), just remember, giving
COMPRESSIONS ONLY IS OKAY!
WHAT ABOUT PREGNANT
MOMS?
I work with a lot of pregnant moms, so my ears perked up
whenever we talked about them in class. Do we treat them any differently? It
depends. Can you administer an AED to them? Yep! The same exact way you would
administer the AED to anyone else. What if they are chocking?? Yeah, good
question. The Heimlich maneuver is modified with your fist positioned at the
base of their breastbone, (rather than at their diaphragm) with the same
in/upward forceful quick thrusts.
GLOVES!
The single most important tool for you to have for first
aid/CPR is… GLOVES. This is something that all men and women can have on them
at virtually all times. Even a women like me who has the smallest purse known
to mankind, there is room in my purse for two gloves.
COMMON SIGNS &
SYMPTOMS:
With more and more people living longer and staying active,
it is important to recognize signs of possible distress that needs emergency
medical attention.
STROKE.
There is a simple acronym used to quickly assess an individual for a possible
stroke. Think FAST.
F = Face. Is their face
asymmetric? Ask them to smile. Look for drooping of the eyelid, mouth, or look
for drooling.
A = Arms. Ask them if they are
having any change in sensation of their arms such as numbness/tingling. Ask
them to lift up both of their arms to shoulder height and keep them up there.
S = Slurred speech. Have them
repeat a sentence, ask them questions.
T = Note the time that
symptoms occurred, or if the individual was aware of when the symptoms first
began.
CALL 911 or other emergency number! Every second counts.
HEART ATTACK.
The signs and symptoms can look completely different with a heart attack. We
often think, severe chest pain with radiating pain to the jaw and down the left
arm. In men, symptoms often times may look similar to this, or the classic “it
feels like there is an elephant sitting on my chest”. Symptoms may radiate down
both arms, may look like profuse sweating, shortness of breath, and not
relieved with rest or antacids. With women, symptoms may look a lot more
subtle, like dizziness, nausea, and/or
indigestion.
CONCUSSION.
We commonly think of sports, especially football when we think concussion. Signs
and symptoms may include:
-
Behavior changes such as agitation and
fear/anxiety
-
Loss of consciousness (not also though!)
-
Changes in vision (double vision, blurred
vision, sensitivity to light)
-
Memory problems. Have them answer a few
questions like what day and year it is, who is the President.
-
Balance problems.
-
Nausea/vomiting/drowsiness/feeling sluggish.
I remember when my brother got a
concussion during one of his lacrosse games. He didn’t even the five minutes
before getting hit or afterwards. He was checked out by a medical professional,
and was sidelined for the rest of the game. He went out with his friends that
night to celebrate the big win against their hometown rivals, and my mom made
sure to wake up every few hours that night while he slept. That has long been
the “at-home treatment” for a concussion, but with the increase in awareness of
long-term and permanent changes that can occur from a head injury, the type of
treatment has also changed. If a person is suspected of having a head injury, a
doctor should check them out, especially if they are an athlete and planning on
continuing to play in contact sports. This is a really big pet peeve of mine,
especially when professional athletes put the game ahead of their health. This
just puts the pressure on kids to just suck up the pain rather than tell coach
that they aren’t feeling right. Sure, maybe that first concussion was “minor”.
Did you know that the brain is much more at risk of permanent injury during
this critical time period after the first concussion? If you let yourself or a
player stay in a game that day or let them return to play before allowing a
doctor to medically clear them, you are being negligent and putting yourself or
that person into a position of long-term brain trauma. So don’t use the old
wives tale of waking someone up every hour to monitor for a significant head
injury. Leave the game, work, park, etc., and to go a doctor.
DIABETIC ATTACK. Often times,
hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia can look like someone is drunk. They may be
slurring their speech, non-responsive, talking nonsense. They may be stumbling
around or even worse, swerving on the road while behind the wheel. They may
have problems with memory, mental changes, cold/clammy skin.
What my instructor really emphasized in class is that you don’t have to do more than you are
comfortable to do. If all you feel comfortable to do is call
EMS, then high five, that’s excellent. You are still a superhero. Just try your
best to stay calm and comforting as you call 911.
Things to do and purchase in order to be prepared:
-
Get CPR/First Aid training
American Hear Association: http://cpr.heart.org/AHAECC/CPRAndECC/Training/UCM_473167_Training.jsp
-
Purchase a CPR rescue masks for $7-$14 online.
They even have keychain masks! Found here: http://www.amazon.com/Ambu-Res-Cue-Mask-Keychain-Pouch/dp/B00BEPQ0KE/ref=pd_sim_121_6/183-9555781-7578840?ie=UTF8&dpID=41DD2RZCqwL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1CXCTPZXD743Q9WSNKN3
-
Purchase gloves to keep in your purse, car, and
home. They have a key chain option too! Found here: http://www.liveactionsafety.com/dixigear-cpr-keychain-kit/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwoYi4BRDF_PHHu6rI7NMBEiQAKZ-JuOP__I8r5-xUAXNdEjy45eQK8ycDa_amxKlYjivaKn8aAoVW8P8HAQ
-
First aid kit.
-
Make an emergency backpack/preparedness kit
incase of a disaster. Ready.gov has a “build your own emergency kit” list. The
Red Cross has one that you can purchase.
-
Make a plan with your family in case of an
emergency, and actually practice that plan (ie. Evacuating the house, where to
meet up, emergency contacts).
For those overachievers who feel inspired (by my blog post..
haha), become a member of a local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
Check out the website here: http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams
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