CPR in the home setting

Specialties Home Health

Published

This may sound like a stupid question. I am new to home health. I have worked in nursing homes and such. When there is a code at a LTC facility there is a board to put under the patient while in the bed before you intiate CPR. In the home setting there is no board or anything. How do you guys handle this? Do you get the client to a flat surface or just start chest compressions?

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Specializes in NICU.

Drag them to the floor or keep a CPR board or AED in your car. Here is an example http://www.amazon.com/CPR-Board-Plastic-23-Orange/dp/B000LWRVHC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377925117&sr=8-1&keywords=cpr+board

Doing CPR on the bed without a board is worthless. You can't get effective compression.

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Specializes in Home Health.

On the floor! Don't make the mistake Conrad Murray made!

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Of course I know its not a good idea. Some of the clients are way too heavy for me to move to the floor though. I think I will invest in a personal CPR board. :)

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

If you can get your client to the floor, that would be best. A CPR board will help with doing CPR in bed, but you have to realize that even with a board in place, the client is NOT on an entirely firm surface and you'll have to compensate for it. Just make sure that you do a SOLID 2 minutes of very high quality CPR, call for help ASAP and get back to doing CPR right away. Many times you'll have an 8-10 minute response time, so you'll be doing compressions for a LONG time. You WILL be exhausted. You often won't have the personnel to swap out with.

Get a board, but just as importantly, bring it with you. You'll lose valuable time running to your car to get it otherwise. If you don't have a board, try to find something in each client's home that will effectively function as a CPR board.

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