Would you do that?

[garciadiego]

If in a public situation and someone, a total stranger, is not breathing, it's a car accident, drowning, whatever, would you, no barrier device is availabe, do mouth to mouth? I have not been in thiis situation but I don't think I would.

[annie.rn]

A long time ago I did it in the heat of the moment. Was in the grocery store in uniform (whites so very obviously a nurse) and a man comes running up to me..."Are you a nurse"? "Yes". "A woman needs help". I'm led to a woman in complete arrest. Another nurse on the scene comes along and conveniently takes the job of compressions and orders me to do respirations. (She was Army and I was Air Force...ha, ha.) I knew it was wrong to do respirations w/o a mask but when you're in the thick of it and there's a crowd forming and you want to help the person it's hard to say, "Oh, no. I can't help here. I don't have a mask." This was 15 yrs ago before the guidelines/teaching changed regarding respirations. The person was very young and had newborn twins w/ her so you really wanted to help her. There were no secretions, thank goodness, or I might have taken pause. I was freaked out afterward and went to the Public Health office on base to report an exposure. They didn't take the risk too seriously but drew blood for a few months to appease me. I didn't contract anything, thankfully. Tried to avoid wearing my whites out in public much after that.

[garciadiego]

So you placed your life at risk?

[garciadiego]

Wow, I can see why you did that.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

I would absolutely give mouth to mouth if the situation required it. Don't be dramatic about putting your life at risk. If the person isn't bleeding from the mouth it's just as safe as kissing. I'm sure we have all kissed someone who we later in the sober light of day we would have considered an infection control risk.

I use my phone, to type, I work at night, and I'm a bad speller. Pick any reason you want for my misspellings

[annie.rn]

If the person isn't bleeding from the mouth it's just as safe as kissing. I'm sure we have all kissed someone who we later in the sober light of day we would have considered an infection

Very good point. That was pretty much the attitude of the Public Health folks when I showed up to report my "exposure". If everyone who kissed someone unseemly came in to file a report they'd sure have some busy Monday mornings!

[garciadiego]

OK lpn, that seems like a rational response, if no blood it is a go but if there is blood it is a no go, then you do what ever else you can do.

[sweetdreame, BSN, RN]

Thanks for all your replies....but the situation is that the person is not breathing but DOES have a heart rate, a pulse, then what? You have no barrier device and you don't want to contract a disease.

If you feel uncomfortable with mouth to mouth you can at least jaw thrust and open the airway. There are other things that can be done.

I've seen plenty of puking arrests to use caution before thinking of performing mouth-to-mouth, but if I really thought it would help (which it likely wouldn't), I would probably do it. What diseases are you worried about contracting through saliva?

[Caffeine_IV]

I don't know if I would or not in the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping. I think more people should learn CPR though, it isn't just a nurse thing.

[newohiorn, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

No, I don't think I would. If you have a pulse and a nonbreather, you probably have an airway issue so I would open the airway, look for obstruction, consider other causes like severe allergic reaction with closed airway or overdose. You give a nonbreather a minute and you're going to have a cardiac arrest anyway and then you can do compressions!

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

Oh yes... Let's avoid the easy and highly effective treatment of rescue breathing, and wait for the person to arrest. CPR has a success rate of between 10-30% nationwide. If at all possible healthcare providers should be aggressive with rescue breathing and supportive care to avoid full arrests. Mouth to mouth is not a high risk procedure for the provider. Even if there is vomit, it is my opinion at that the risk of transmission of serious diseases is minor. It's gross, I understand how you may not want to do it, but it really should be done.

I use my phone, to type, I work at night, and I'm a bad speller. Pick any reason you want for my misspellings

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I'd do hands-only CPR like nobody's business. I also tend to have a barrier device somewhere nearby...

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

No I would never do mouth to mouth on someone unless I knew them personally. I live in the HIV capital of the U.S. and while I am more than willing to be a good Samaritan and do compressions or help out in other ways, I need to protect myself.