CNN is carrying an Associated Press, report about a patient's clothes being set on fire by a defibrillator. According to the report, the fire was started from by a spark from the defibrillator when a paramedic tried to restart her heart in an ambulance.
The patient was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Some doubt that the fire or the defibrillator caused the patient's death, explaining:
When you defibrillate a person, they are already dead.
Don't tell John Edwards about this.
Posted by: Brian | Sunday, February 01, 2004 at 01:28 AM
In nearly every one of the trillion or so CPR classes I've taken there's been some student, generally several, horrified to find out that there is a fair chance of breaking a rib or three whilst giving CPR -- especially if the patient is elderly or very young. The instructor inevitably has to point out that if you do nothing they're dead anyway, if you perform CPR and they live, well a broken rib is a small price to pay...
Myria
Posted by: Myria | Wednesday, January 28, 2004 at 01:30 PM