If proper CPR involves compressing the chest so much such that the ribcage might break - doesnt that breakage risks a bone puncturing the heart?
Yes, more common however is a rib puncturing a lung. Regardless, the (slim) possibility of that happening is preferable to the certain death that would happen if you didn’t perform CPR
This. When I got my CPR training, the consensus was: if you hear or feal something crack, don’t stop. Messing up is better than doing nothing.
Hearing a crack isn’t messing up. Broken ribs are common in cpr.
External compression isn’t exactly the normal mechanism of blood circulation.
That’s true, my point was just that a broken rib doesn’t mean you made a mistake during CPR.
You can’t do more harm than dead is the idea.
Alive with broken ribs and other injuries > being dead
I suppose, but the risk is low. Especially if your only other choice is to die in a minute without CPR.
So I’ve done lots of cpr. First off it’s kind of a misconception that you’ll break ribs from cpr. You are more likely to break cartilage than actually break bones and appropriate cpr isn’t going to break bones unless they’re the smallest most frail person and the individual doing cpr is going crazy doing compressions.
Even if you break ribs you’re probably not going to have a displaced rib fracture as there’s muscles and tissue holding those bones in place, it’s pretty rare to have ribs break so bad they risk puncturing organs and it usually involves catastrophic trauma, not what you get from cpr.
I have, thankfully, never done CPR live, but I’m certified to teach CPR by the Danish First Aid Council. So I have a interest in learning from actual practitioners, although I’m obviously not allowed to alter the course.
Where do you stand on ventilation? Currently I have to teach 30:2 mouth to mouth, but I know that there’s talk about skipping ventilation either entirely or at least for adults. The thinking being that children don’t suffer spontaneous cardiac arrests, but that it’s usually a result of blocked airways.
Do you do ventilation and does it make a difference in your experience?
CCR is the primary method taught in cardiac care. E.g only compression. This is because the primary issue is preventing clots and making sure you get some blood flow to the tissues. Full oxygenation isn’t as important due to lower oxygen demand of an unconscious person.
Training (and presumably the Emergency dispatch) tells you exactly where to put your hands to minimize the risk of anything catastrophic happening because of your effort. You probably don’t need to worry about broken bones; in fact, the sound of bones cracking a bit is a sign that you’re pushing deep enough to actually compress the heart and pump some blood.
yeah, infant CPR class made me second guess lifeguard training as a teen for a summer job.
Dark healthcare provider humor incoming: When considering these kinds of questions regarding CPR, we actually say, “Well, they ain’t getting any deader.”
CPR actually reverses death. That’s why it only works sometimes and only if provided in a very short window of time after you’ve died. Nothing that is done during CPR is going to make that worse. So yeah, the reality is that it’s a little bit of a controlled free-for-all. It’s called “heroic measures” for a reason.
