A place for all EMS personnel to discuss anything EMS related, questions, Memes, etc.
For non medical readers: to clarify- the person first doing the compressions first wasn’t pressing hard enough. Not the person taking over!
Just…don’t be afraid with compressions. The only thing you can really get wrong is not pressing hard enough. For the rest of it, don’t worry about it- just keep trying to squash that heart, that’s the best chance you can give the person.
Thank you for adding the clarification. I was pretty frustrated when I posted and didn't really think about adding detail.
Not at all! I share your frustration- we’re plagued by bad/ineffective CPR because TV shows and films do such a shit job of showing it. I know it seems extreme but I think it should be illegal to show ineffective CPR on TV.
Not a big fan of this blanket sentiment.
It's important to note that it absolutely is NOT necessary to hear things "pop" or "break" to deliver effective CPR. It's a common occurrence and not worrisome, but a lack of those effects is not a sufficient indicator you have to increase pressure.
Rather check or have someone next to you check how deep you're compressing so it's about 2-2.5 inches. It's handy to know how much that actually is. While it is a significant depth, it's also not as deep as some think. When in doubt, always err on the side of pushing too deep, but there's no inherent benefit to crushing bones and cartilage and it's also very exhausting trying to continuously push so incredibly deep.
What do you mean by pops? Like bones breaking?
It's the cartilage breaking that attaches the sternum to the ribs. If you are compressing deep enough to squeeze the heart, that is typically a side effect.
Damn us humans are quite fragile creatures. Thanks for explaining.