ChrisWrestling's blog

This is just a quick one.  First off, everyone should be first aid/CPR/AED trained.  It's not expensive.  The American Heart Association is currently better than the Red Cross.  I am writing this because of the prevalence of CPR fetish videos on watchfighters.  Look, I'm not here to kink shame but if you are going to do these videos you should be trained and you should show good CPR.  If Stranger Things can go out of their way to show period inaccurate CPR in favor of modern correct CPR you can too.

Step 1: Tap and shout.  You don't need to check for a pulse but if you are going to don't do the neck, you can trigger a vagus nerve response that can make things worse.  The wrist is hard to find.  Take 2 fingers, put them across the inside of the bicep, between your arm and ribs, just lay it across there and gently press down till you feel bone, middle of the bicep, this is a stupid easy spot to find, practice on yourself or a friend. Again, you do not need to check for a pulse.  If they are unresponsive, unconscious, and not breathing, they need CPR.

On breathing, I learned this one the hard way and yes the guy died.  You want quality breathing.  Apnea like breathing is not breathing.  They may make sounds, they may gasp, they need CPR.

Step 1a: if there are people around, point to one individual and tell them to call 911.  Point to someone else or better yet a couple people, "you three", and tell them to go look for the AED aka defibrillator.  If you are in a business, an employee should know where it is.

Step 1b: If you can call 911 and put it on speakerphone, do.  You will do 2 cycles of CPR before looking for the AED. One cycle is 30 reps and 2 rescue breaths if you are doing them.  There are barriers you can use so you aren't kissing them or getting their germs.  These barriers fit in a wallet.

Step 2: Start chest compressions, you can do chest compression only CPR.  Most places teach you to sing staying alive and do your compressions to the beat.  Place the palm of one hand in the middle of their sternum, place the other hand on top.  You can keep your fingers straight or curl them in but make sure it is only the palm of your hand doing the compressions and compress 1-2" deep. The movement is generated from the trunk, not your torso.

This is important and the Red Cross is lying about this now which I find incredibly stupid: yes, ribs can pop (common) or even break (elderly/osteoperosis) from CPR.  The person you are working on is already as good as dead, if you stop CPR they WILL DIE.  There is also a good chance that doctors in the hospital may cut open their chest to operate so they may not even ever know you broke their ribs.  They will wake up and think, "thank God I'm alive" and not, "that incompetent bastard broke my ribs".  Let's say they do sue you, if they are even able to find out who you are, good samaritin laws protect you.  You are not a medical professional, even if you are this is the standard of care.  In other words, they have no case to sue you.

On rescue breaths: I would do them without a barrier in a pinch, personally.  Now your body has one tube that splits and goes either to the stomach or to the lungs, if you blow a bunch of air into the stomach, it will expand and then contract and the contents of the stomach will come up and out the mouth.  This is why opening the airway properly is important and you need to watch that the chest rises.  If they do throw up, roll them onto their side and let the vomit out onto the floor, you don't want them drowning on that.  To open the airway, put one hand on the forehead and one under the front of the jaw on the bone, gently tilt their head back and lift their chin.  Close the nose and gently blow til you see the chest rise then let it fall, 2 breaths.  Then go back to chest compressions.  DO NOT BLOW WHILE SOMEONE IS DOING CHEST COMPRESSIONS!

Step 3: When the AED arrives, and this is very very important.  The pads should have a diagram showing you where to place them.  If someone is helping, keep doing chest compressions while they put them on or have them time it with your rescue breaths.  The placement is on the right pec, the top of the pad should touch the clavical and it should be centered on the nipple or slightly to the right.  The other pad goes on the side of the ribs a couple inches lower than the armpit but not far.  If both are on top the electricity will not get deep enough.  We need the shock to go through the SA node of the heart to reset it.  Shocking the heart stops it, it does not start it.  Right now the heart is basically having a seizure and so you need to bitch slap it.

Once the pads are plugged in the machine may tell you to stop CPR.  You must make sure no one, even you, is touching the victim.  After a minute it will tell  you if you need to shock them.  Make sure everyone is clear then hit the button.  It will read the heart again and will instruct you to either start CPR again or to shock again.  AEDs work in the rain, on metal, they are safe.

CPR is exhausting, you will want someone to trade out with.  If you have to you can tell someone what you are doing and walk them through it if you need a break.  Hell, have a whole CPR party if you need to just try to keep everything steady. 

Reality check: this is a high stress situation, you will doubt yourself.  It is better to do and be wrong about CPR being necessary than to not. If people are around they will say stupid shit, they will make you doubt yourself, they may get in the way or try to stop you.  If someone outranks you like a first responder or nurse, let them lead.  Never yell, someone call 911, no one will.  Always point to someone and tell them to make the call.  If ribs break or you feel cracking, ok, I guess that's out of the way, keep going! People may not know what the AED is, keep going unless someone else can step in so you can go get it.  There may not be an AED.  They are usually found near the front door or around bathrooms, near fire extinguishers.  It's not a bad idea to look for them when you enter a new space so you know before there's an emergency.  Outside of working on an ambulance I've only had a couple emergencies I had to deal with, if you're lucky you probably never will BUT you don't want to be hanging out with a friend or loved one, have them have a cardiac event and not know what to do.  CPR courses are like $50-$100, just do it, probably at least every 2 years, every year is better.  It's not hard.