ka bar Posted July 30, 2014 Share #1 Posted July 30, 2014 As a nurse in ICU, I see the life saving use of CPR It is such a sad story that CPR wasn't recognized for its potential. A recent article I read states..."During World War II, mouth to mouth resuscitation was reported to have been used". However, the US military didn't adopt CPR until the Vietnam War. It is interesting to note that the first use of cardiac massage with defibrillation was in 1947 during open chest surgery on a 14 yr old boy. I wonder how many wounded soldiers could have returned home if CPR was better developed during WW2..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03gyrene Posted July 30, 2014 Share #2 Posted July 30, 2014 If it were only one life saved, it would have well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted July 30, 2014 Share #3 Posted July 30, 2014 Just think about all of the things that would have made a difference in so many wars....penicillin, plasma, etc... In the pioneer days, they used to amputate a broken leg. My great grandfather died of appendicitis. My grandfather died of a heart condition that is corrected outpatient today. Unfortunately, wars helped to speed up medical research.....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka bar Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share #4 Posted July 30, 2014 Even just using cardiac compressions would have kept the brain perfused, which would have preserved the brain stem. A GI bleeding out would have had that managed early by the medic, thus allowing a relatively decent blood volume to be circulated via compressions. Thank goodness penicillin was used or a LOT more GIs would have not come home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka bar Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted July 30, 2014 Just think about all of the things that would have made a difference in so many wars....penicillin, plasma, etc... In the pioneer days, they used to amputate a broken leg. My great grandfather died of appendicitis. My grandfather died of a heart condition that is corrected outpatient today. Unfortunately, wars helped to speed up medical research.....Kat Yeah, that is right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka bar Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share #6 Posted July 30, 2014 Gunshot wounds proved a nightmare prior to penicillin The uniform of a soldier is dirty, and unclean A bullet that passes through a uniform punches out a small piece of the clothing and drives it into the wound There it stays in the wound and septicaemia developed very quickly Staphylococcus Aureus Septicemia gave those soldiers NO chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted July 30, 2014 Share #7 Posted July 30, 2014 Medicine is a constantly evolving entity. My Dad always says "Do you know why they call it the practice of medicine? Because they are still practicing! They don't know what in the $#@@ they are doing!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka bar Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share #8 Posted July 30, 2014 Kat....yeah, medicine evolves DAILY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hink441 Posted July 30, 2014 Share #9 Posted July 30, 2014 I hate to say this, but I have done CPR many times in my career, and the sad fact is the survival rate for CPR patients is around 20%. Not very good odds, combine that with traumatic injuries and it is not usually a good outcome. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka bar Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share #10 Posted July 31, 2014 I hate to say this, but I have done CPR many times in my career, and the sad fact is the survival rate for CPR patients is around 20%. Not very good odds, combine that with traumatic injuries and it is not usually a good outcome. Chris hink441, you have mentioned something very interesting I did forget to mention that it is DEFIBRILLATION that has the biggest benefit and not CPR alone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 31, 2014 Share #11 Posted July 31, 2014 I hate to say this, but I have done CPR many times in my career, and the sad fact is the survival rate for CPR patients is around 20%. Not very good odds, combine that with traumatic injuries and it is not usually a good outcome. Chris Agreed. In law enforcement I've seen CPR performed quite often and often by firefighter/medical personnel. It is rarely successful especially in traumatic (gunshot) type situations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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