Hacker News Reader

Comment by davidw | Hacker News Reader

Step 0: call 911 or whatever your country's equivalent is.

On a whim, I did EMT-B training a few years ago. Part of that course is a responder-level CPR cert. Through muscle memory, one of my fellow students jumped on scene during the evaluation, and the first thing she did was instruct a bystander to "Call 911!"

To which the evaluator responded, "You are 911"

That's what they taught us in Boy Scouts. Very first step is to get help.

Have someone call 911 (or whatever number in your country) immediately. If nobody is nearby start yelling.

Only one time in my life have I had to perform CPR (was already too late) but it is amazing how much of what I learned when I was 11 years old stuck with me.

Get help, check airway for obstructions...etc. Most importantly...take a CPR class sometime in your life and do what they say. The "ABC" of airway, breathing, circulation they taught us may not be current advice.

Sidenote: Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't save a life...even the pros say unless the patient is young/healthy you likely won't.

Edit: The feeling when the pros actually show up (in the case where I was doing CPR within minutes) is one of the biggest reliefs I have had in my life. Even knowing CPR...you feel helpless until they show up. And once they do, ask immediately if they need you. If not...get out of the way.

>The "ABC" of airway, breathing, circulation they taught us may not be current advice.

https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/resources/articles/abc...

Some experts believe that some situations may see better outcomes if circulation is prioritized over respiration. Most experts agree that it is still best to teach ABC.

(CPR instructor, paramedic, instructor) - all outcomes are better with CAB. Circulation first, or only.

Two main reasons: 1: blood can remain somewhat perfused with oxygen for about 8 minutes - but needs to circulate, 2: as a rough rule of thumb, your chance of survival goes down about 10% for every minute that you need compressions but aren't getting them.

> The "ABC" of airway, breathing, circulation they taught us may not be current advice.

The version taught in Australian first aid classes is DRSABCD: check for (D)anger, check for patient (R)esponse, (S)end for help, (A)irway, (B)reathing, (C)irculation.

Part of the reason they teach "ABC" is it is simple and easy to remember, especially in an emergency. I've reread DRSABCD a dozen times now and I guarantee I will have forgotten it in a few minutes. Case in point, you missed (D)efibrillation...

That's fair. They teach it as "Dr's ABCD", which is a reasonable mnemonic.

MARCH is used by some systems

> Even knowing CPR...you feel helpless until they show up. And once they do, ask immediately if they need you. If not...get out of the way.

As a paramedic, the first thing we did on scene if we didn't arrive with the cavalry (our standard dispatch for CPR was 2 BLS units, i.e. 4-8 EMTs, an ALS unit, i.e. 1-2 paramedics) is "Hey, keep going, we'll coach you, while we get set up", because if you're doing solid compressions, great, that means we can do the things you can't (get vascular access, establish an advanced airway, rhythm, etc.)

Step -1: touch somebody and tell them to call 911.

I was taught "point at someone and tell them 'you, specifically, call 911'" but I like touch a lot better. Makes more sense for getting someone to actually do it.

I had this directive as well.

I was told to point at someone and say, "YOU. Call 911."

Touching someone when asking them to do something is a well known psychological trick. It immediately increases intimacy, which makes the person more likely to do what you ask. Though it can also backfire if the person is particularly sensitive and finds the intimacy uncomfortable.

I've found "You, what's your name? Steven? Steven, can you call 911 right now?" to be very effective. It breaks the ice with a very easy task. It can also help later when you need to need to find, describe, follow up with, or thank the person.

It’s essentially 112 (at least as a secondary number) almost all around the world thanks to ITU

Reply on news.ycombinator.com