Nurses General Nursing
Published Sep 17, 2012
amoLucia
7,736 Posts
As seen in a commercial for an upcoming TV show episode ---- hospital scene, pt laying (lying?) flat in bed/stretcher, side rails down (OK). Male MD/nurse (?) with defib paddles in hand, paddles positioned over sternum/left lateral chest (OK-ish), ready to fire.
Here's the kicker --- pt in a hospital gown, no gel pads; therefore the defib firing attempt would be thru the gown!!??!!??
Now it's been eons & eons since I last used a defibrillator, but don't you still have to make direct contact to the gel pads on the bare chest? Not thru fabric? Uhhhh - i'is there something new out there in defibrillator land? Or did I just see another DUMB incorrect
over-dramatized made-specially-just-for-TV spectacle?
We used chest gel pads for AED training, so wouldn't this be applicable to general defibrillation also. I love catching medical bloopers on TV, so this just jumped out at me!
So... did I catch a blooper? Thanks.
mom_coach_nurse, LPN
155 Posts
I was taught direct contact with skin, last week by the AHA.
meanmaryjean, DNP, RN
7,899 Posts
Welcome to the wonderful world of Hollywood! YEARS ago, I saw blood being given (on a soap opera) from a glass bottle, and if you followed the tubing, it was going into the patient's nose. I 'bout wet myself I laughed so hard!
nurseprnRN, BSN, RN
1 Article; 5,115 Posts
Never, never mistake commercial television for instructional material.
JustBeachyNurse, LPN
13,952 Posts
TV dramas still shock flat lines. Asystole is a very stable rhythm....aka "dead". You can't shock asystole as there is no electrical activity to shock....yet they continue to do so on many tv dramas & movies.
Guest343211
880 Posts
Hahaha...lol
That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B
3,421 Posts
Now I question everything I learned on ER
Do-over, ASN, RN
1,085 Posts
I watched "The Vow" the other night... When the female lead was unconscious in the hospital the big bore blue oxygen hose was taped directly to her face going into her mouth... No ETT, no securement device...
To answer the OP's question - No, you would not shock through a patient gown.
Karla_isela
12 Posts
When taking my BLS course we were instructed to remove the person's shirt and to even try to remove any hair on the person's chest if we could but who really has time to pull a razor and some shaving gel out at a time like that?
0402
355 Posts
If they are really hairy, you can use the first set of pads to "give them a wax" and then apply a new set of pads.
wish_me_luck, BSN, RN
1,110 Posts
No, it's done on bare chest. And justbeachy, the shocking asystole on tv drives me insane. I quit watching hospital dramas because I can pick out mistakes. Shocking asystole in real life can cause damage to the myocardium. The odd thing is, these shows have a medical consult.