Published
have YOU personally ever done it (on a patient, not annie)?
That's life in the ER! As a volunteer firefighter/First Responder, I have done it in all kinds of places for LONG periods of time, and in the back of an ambulance whizzing through curvy mountain roads.
I'm not sure I understand the distinction between CPR, the AED, and fracturing ribs!?! The only time I ever fractured ribs was on a thin, elderly woman who probably was osteoporotic. I, too, am a CPR instructor. I think hand placement, and keeping all but the heel of your hands off the patient's chest has everything to do with fx ribs or not. Of course, if it is a trauma code, the ribs may already be fx.
Since I worked Skilled Nursing and Nursing Homes for the first 2 years of my nursing life, it was a year and a half before I ever even saw a CODE. They were both on little old people that had no quality of life anyway. They weren't successful. Since I have ha d a little more experience, floating to ER's and ICU's and the like, I have participated in, and performed CPR in appx 5 CODES in the four years that I have been in nursing.
I just did it last week on a little premie--had to break their ribs as their bones still have a lot of cartilage in them and are mostly very flexible. Yes, we were successful--baby just got carried away doing his apnea of prematurity thing--I think he was pi**ed because we had moved him to be w/his twin; at least we hadn't co-bedded them yet.
Just a gentle 2 finger version of CPR suits me just fine!!
nursedawn67, LPN
1,046 Posts
I had to do CPR on a real human...much different then on the mannequin. But it's funny everything just came to me and I did it. No time to think....just react!