Monday, April 4, 2016

Keep Calm, I Know CPR & First Aid


"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For those who think the ABC's when they hear CPR, that's pretty outdated information.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


-       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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