CPR refresher

Somebody posted about CPR before,so I am just copying because I thought it was a great idea to post about it!

In case of an emergency you may be the victim's only chance of survival. Until an ambulance arrives and professional assistance is available, you can increase that chance by 40% simply by remembering and effectively administering Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation.

1. Check for responsiveness by shouting and shaking the victim. Do not shake or move the victim if you suspect he may have sustained spinal injury.

2. Call 9-1-1.

3. Remember your A-B-C:

* Airway: tilt the head back and lift the neck to clear the airway.
* Breathing: pinch the victim's nose and give 2 breaths, watching for the chest to rise with each breath.
* Circulation: if there is no pulse, perform 30 chest compressions - 2 hands, 2 inches.

4. Check for pulse and if necessary perform the cycle again.

http://www.stjohn.org.au/index.php?opti ... Itemid=310

try this link if you have a spare 45 minutes

As a PADI Master Scuba Instructor and PADI Medic First Aid Instructor (Alumni) I felt fully confident to perform CPR on a victim of an auto-hit while in BKK. Upon seeing the accident directly in front of me I started across the road to see if I could help. My G/F at that time grabbed my arm and told me to, "walk away" and not get involved. I was relatively new to Thailand and followed her advice. To this day I don't know what happened to the woman who was hit crossing the street... but I'm also confident that my G/F gave me some good advice. She said I could very easily be 'charged' by the woman or by her survivors if she died - well worth thinking about unless you know the victim.

Pak as we are both Americans and we are protected under good Samaritan act
I was trained and certified in CPR but I let my card expire sadly in this country we have to have a blind eye when it comes to helping some one and I have to agree with your G/F she gave you the best advice walk away

Pakawala wrote:As a PADI Master Scuba Instructor and PADI Medic First Aid Instructor (Alumni) I felt fully confident to perform CPR on a victim of an auto-hit while in BKK. Upon seeing the accident directly in front of me I started across the road to see if I could help. My G/F at that time grabbed my arm and told me to, "walk away" and not get involved. I was relatively new to Thailand and followed her advice. To this day I don't know what happened to the woman who was hit crossing the street... but I'm also confident that my G/F gave me some good advice. She said I could very easily be 'charged' by the woman or by her survivors if she died - well worth thinking about unless you know the victim.

I believe your G/F was right on the money when it comes to assisting Thais in accidents!

I would confine my aid to friends and family!

I stopped off at a motor cycle accident 3 years ago approx 500 m from AEK, the reason was the guy wasnt moving at all and blood pouring from a scalp laceration.

20 people looking on and no body doing a thing etc.

Ok im a qualified practicing Paramedic and had an Intubation kit in my car. ( very specialised pieces of equip that allows u to look all the way down the airway to the larynx - voice box )

This guys airway was completely obstructed and he had stopped breathing from the initial incident.

The examination confirmed that his teeth and denture plate had completely obstructed his airway at his larynx and he was dying literally.

With the use of the larynscope and magill forceps i removed this obstruction and the guy started to breath in approx 5 secs.

The crowd screamed Pee ( ghost ) the temple ambulance arrived as they had called it in as a DOA and so they took him to Udon Public hospital and he had his scalp sutured up etc.

The Professor of the Khon Kaen Trauma Unit where i sometimes assist with teaching courses etc said this is the luckiest guy in Thailand.

One poster on this forum with his GF also assisted with translations at the time.

Would i do it again, yes, as i do carry a complete Paramedic Trauma Resus kit with me in my car and have international accreditted qualifications. But i wont use any invaqsive techniques such as IV's .... as that is strictly controlled by Thai law and im not registed in Thailand ....

Agreed there is no good samaraitan act here in Thailand, and who knows how good common law is here in realation to this sort of situation.

The nice thing after all this, was that approx 4-5 students going home from the pub at that time thanked me and took me to AEK Udon to have my equipment cleaned and then bought some noodles for me after.

Did you ever see the guy afterwards Wazza..?

BM

I went to the Hospital the next day to follow him up and he was discharged that same night with his sutures in place.

When I asked the triage nurse a bit more, she looked quiet strange and knew nothing of his life threatening presentation.

Maybe my translation just wasnt good enough !!

Just a very lucky guy and will never know what really happened.

The Police at the time were extremely grateful and at no stage questioned my ability or authority to act etc. They in fact wai'ed me so many times.

Congrats wazza.I 'm glad you stopped!I might or might not of depending on how I saw the situation.In this case ,I probably would have stopped also!

It is really hard not to stop and help when you know you are qualified!But there is a definite risk involved!

yes the risk is there and i accpet this , having International qualifications that are accepeted by the Thai Medical authorities would make it a reduced risk. I have asked the authorities in Khon Kaen on this subject before and its a different answer every every day.

The bottom line is , if u do stop, then u only do what ur legal qualifications allow u to do, after that u can and be held responsible.

In Australia the 1990's a civil case was ruled on and after appeal it went to the Supreme court.

The summary was that if you are qualified in any medical training from First Aid Level 1 up to Medical consultant you are legally obliged to stop and render clinical assistance.

No wonder medical staff no longer register their cars on their own names and carry equipment in their cars, as the ambulance chasers will grab ur number and nail u down !

Sad but true

Wazza ,you sound like the man that would know,i have often thought about this over the years.... What sort of life saving equipment do Ambulances carry in Thailand, ok i know the older 'Temple Ambulances' can be a basic pick-up, but what about the new ones that you see on the roads and also what about the 'Hospital Ambulances' are they well equipped or just basic stuff on board ..? Hoping i will never need one, but would be nice to know in advance..!

The standard of Thai ambulances differ so much unfortunately, the best state of the art units are in BKK attached to the private hospitals , ie if u ring the Bangkok General Cardiac ambulance ,u will even get ur cardiac echogram done enroute due to traffic jam.

The Khon Kaen Trauma centre has good basic vehicles and so too do the Udon hospitals.

The best equipped ambulance in Udon is at Kiprajak Hospital ( Army Hospital ) it even carries a Semi Automatic Defib. I actually assisted in seting this unit up 2 years ago and they are now responding in the Udon city area in the busy afternoon shift 1600-2400 period as part of a coordinated first response plan for Udon. Pls note Nurses are not allowed to deliver defibrillation in Thailand.

Now u can have the best state of the art equipped ambulance in Udon or Thailand, BUT u now need trained and competent staff to actually use it. This is where the system in Thailand sadly falls down rapidly.

In Issan , EMT's ( Emergency Medical Technicians ) are training at Siridorn College in Khon Kaen and its a 3 year course. They do heaps of formal class training and hospital based training and exposures etc, but the end of the day these staff cant competently resuscitate an acute airway management issue or a critical head injury. This is where i volunteer my time to lecture and train them in competency based skills etc.

ER Nurses also provide crewing on these ambulances and they do not receive any formal training, The thinking is , that because they work in ER then its assumed its all in the same package, which sadly its not.

My summary would be , dont look at the ambulance and whats its got inside it, ask the Nurses / ER staff at the hospitals what they can actually do, ie, are they able to give u an aspirin if you have suspected chest pain. Can they admin O2 without having to ring the ER room for consultation. Do they actually carry mannual suction devices ?? or just rely on the vacum / venturi suction from the vehicle engine, whilst the patient is lying on their back aspirating to death waiting to have their airway cleared when they finally get inside the ambulance.

Im not being critical here , just stating my observations and experiences.

If im asked to assist any ER I will and I do this for free.

Excellent info Wazza cheers.

Yes mute point, helping could bring on problems, however if police arrive and can see you are assisting not hindering, there should be no problem.
I have heard of a case where a man took qan injured ( farning accident ) to hospital and they tried to charge him for the medical coss.
But that uis a rare occurrence.
Thais lack of help is due to their complete lack of any first aid training which is often the norm in wetern countries to youth organisations and other clubs. here nothing.

Great info wazza!Assuming that care givers here perform the same roles as in the West is a major mistake!

Most of us living here have picked up on some of the differences if we have visited hospitals here an contrasted the differences in competency and urgency of the staff!