Sometime CPR really does work

So what is it?  One percent?  Actually, I think I saw a study recently that showed that as many as three percent of people who had CPR performed on them lived?  I think it's this percent that lived and had a somewhat normal quality of life afterwords.

Today I had a lady come into the emergency room.  She was in the passenger seat.  Her husband was driving.  She was on the phone talking to her brother.  She dropped the phone.  Her husband saw that something was wrong.  He pulled over.  He had a bystander call 911.  He started CPR.

Within 5 minutes the EMTs arrived.  The patient was in v-tach.  Shocked three times.  Gave four doses of epinephrine.  By the time I received the patient she was intubated and, of course, chest compression and breaths with 100% oxygen were being given.  She had no pulse.  No rhythm.

Ah, and just as the good doctor was about to call it, the patient took in a deep breath, started breathing on her own, and had a good rhythm of the heart.  No, she did not miraculously wake up like they do in the movies.  That, my good friends, never happens in real life.  So all those people who have "CPR but no vent" on their advanced directives are living in a pipe dream.

Anyway, we shipped her to another location and that's all I know of her.  Due to HIPPA I will never get an update.  That's unfortunate, because her follow up would be a good learning experience.

However, we did have a lady a few years ago in the same situation, and two weeks later she came in complaining of dizziness.  It was neat to see that she came out of it just fine.  I will never see this lady again, because she resides in another state and was just in town on vacation with her husband.

And yes, for you dunderheads who want to get me into trouble for writing about a patient, I did alter enough details so even the most anal person will have no clue which patient I'm referring to here.

ACLS is EASY

While I was studying for ACLS the other night at work, one of my co-
workers who was taking the class for the first time told me she was stressed about it.

"Why?" I said.

"Because there's so much to remember,"

"ACLS is so easy now, you could not even open up your book, go to the class, and still get your ACLS card at the end of the day."

"Really?" he said.

"Really. I mean, I would study, but I certainly wouldn't get all stressed out."

"But what about the Mega Code."

"What Mega Code?"

And I was right on there. I just got back from re-certifying for ACLS, and we didn't even do a Mega Code. Instead of each of us taking turns being team leader, and having to run through a code, all we did was walk through each scenario as a group.

All told, this group Mega Code lasted a mere 10 minutes. Then we took the test as a group, and we were done.

No stress involved.

It's so simple now that I think someone could probably go to the class without studying and do just fine. They pretty much walk you through what you need to know right there, which includes giving us the answers to most of the questions.

And if there are still questions you don't know the answer to, the test was open book and open discussion. How much easier can it get?

I wanted to get the heck out of there, so I did my test by myself and actually got out of the class 45 minutes early while most attendees were busy bantering over which one was right, A or B.

This RT never experienced ACLS of old, where some of my co-workers tell me the Mega Code was a major stressor, but it makes more sense to me the way they do it now.

Now ACLS is more of a learning experience rather than a pass or fail drill. One RN I talked with said it's too simplified, but I personally love this simplified version, and I get out of it just what I need, without the stress.

All told, ACLS is EASY.