First time doing CPR

[EMSBabe18]

For my first clinical in my EMT-B class, I signed up for 11p-7a in the ED. After a long quiet night, at 6:59am, a code came in and adrenaline kicked everyone into motion. The tech who was my proctor let me get in on the action. Unfortunately, apparently I wasn't tall enough to do effective CPR and the docs told me to just let the techs do compressions. After 20 min of CPR, the pt was still asystole and they took him up to the OR. Shift changed and I went home in tears.

Anyone else have an unsuccessful first attempt at CPR? What are your stories?

 

[samiam]

I am short... but they usually have a stool in the resus rooms just for that purpose. It is still a lot harder for short people to do cpr on a high gurney then it is on the floor or in the rig.

 

[Ewok Jerky]

You don't need to cry. You were there to help, and that's what you did. You didn't stand by and watch, you didn't clam up or back down, you got in there and did what you were trained to do. I am 5'4 and I was doing compressions today and I swapped out as soon as some one taller was available because I knew mt compressions weren't deep enough.

For the future:
-there are usually stools to stand on on the ER, if you are on compressions ask one oud those people standing around to get it.
-climb up on the rails of the bed if there are rails.
-sometimes when its all shorties we drop the gurney a few clicks when we offload for the walk into the ER
-sometimes I just hop on the rails of the gurney and ride in.

 

[FrostbiteMedic]

For my first clinical in my EMT-B class, I signed up for 11p-7a in the ED. After a long quiet night, at 6:59am, a code came in and adrenaline kicked everyone into motion. The tech who was my proctor let me get in on the action. Unfortunately, apparently I wasn't tall enough to do effective CPR and the docs told me to just let the techs do compressions. After 20 min of CPR, the pt was still asystole and they took him up to the OR. Shift changed and I went home in tears.

Anyone else have an unsuccessful first attempt at CPR? What are your stories?

I know of very few people who have ever had a save first time out with CPR.....you did your best and that is all that matters.

 

[certguy]

Frostbite's right,we've all been there.All you can do is give the pt your best&leave it to God.My first time I was 20 min out from the nearest ER by myself in the back,on a windy mt. road with no a/c in the back.I nearly became a pt myself.After all that,he didn't make it.You're gonna lose some and that sucks,but the saves will make it all worthwhile.

 

[Tommerag]

If it makes you feel better I'm 0/7 on cardiac calls that needed cpr

 

[akflightmedic]

This where you as a student recognize a need and request it, this is all skill building for your career in EMS.

What I mean by this is when you realized you were doing ineffective compressions, did you attempt to fix it on your own or did someone else notice and then got the other techs involved?

As a student, you were there doing the most basic skill anyone in our profession will ever do, but you also had a missed opportunity to practice one of the more demanding skills in our profession.

That skill is recognizing you were wrong and then correcting it. It also involved commanding of the scene slightly by confidently expressing your needs, effective communication.

Food for thought and future use (instant replay with a twist): While doing compressions, you realize they are not effective. You look up and make eye contact with whoever is standing around idle. You state to them in a calm yet firm voice, please get me a stool. (Alternative is to look at doctor or whoever is at the head of the bed and say Please can we lower the bed)?

Either scenario would show that you are professional enough to manage your own shortcomings :0 (love puns) but you also have the skills to bring a solution on your own without prompting from another.

If someone insisted they take over, you can always say I am a student and would like to continue this lesson, can we please get a stool or lower the bed....if they say no, then you hand off and move on....


And finally...asystole x 20 minutes goes to the OR???? You sure it was not the morgue?

 

[Sandog]

+1 billion

Food for thought and future use (instant replay with a twist): While doing compressions, you realize they are not effective. You look up and make eye contact with whoever is standing around idle. You state to them in a calm yet firm voice, please get me a stool. (Alternative is to look at doctor or whoever is at the head of the bed and say Please can we lower the bed)?

Either scenario would show that you are professional enough to manage your own shortcomings :0 (love puns) but you also have the skills to bring a solution on your own without prompting from another.

Dang, that was awesome insight...

 

[Akulahawk]

We can provide a good nudge towards life with all the medicines and care techniques we have. Many times that nudge is not powerful enough. You do your best, provide the best care you can, and understand that your patient may be far enough down their last trail that they don't want to (or can't) heed that nudge and pass on. You move on.

As to doing CPR, I remember my first. The rest are a blur. If you need help getting into position to do your job, ask for it. If you're too short to do adequate compressions on a gurney, do what you can and ask for a stool to provide you the height you'll need. If you see it coming, get ready and have at hand what you need so that you're not delayed getting into action. Learning to anticipate things from what you see will take time and experience.

 

[Rev.IKON]

I had one in my clinical. I got to do compressions for like 20 seconds, then the doctor called it. Afterwards i got to take his rectal temperature. This was definitely and eye opening experience.

 

[8jimi8]

You don't need to cry. You were there to help, and that's what you did. You didn't stand by and watch, you didn't clam up or back down, you got in there and did what you were trained to do. I am 5'4 and I was doing compressions today and I swapped out as soon as some one taller was available because I knew mt compressions weren't deep enough.

For the future:
-there are usually stools to stand on on the ER, if you are on compressions ask one oud those people standing around to get it.
-climb up on the rails of the bed if there are rails.
-sometimes when its all shorties we drop the gurney a few clicks when we offload for the walk into the ER
-sometimes I just hop on the rails of the gurney and ride in.

Tears are ok if they do not hold you back from the job that must be done. Bottling up emotions is the quickest beeline to burnout.

There is usually a red button, switch, pedal, foot pump, etc to push on EVERY gurney that says CPR. Jam your foot on that and get busy. Or ask for a stool/ find one when you hand off at 2 minutes. Use all of your body weight on locked arms and with your feet flat on the ground. No tip toes and really put your weight into it. You can do it.

 

[akflightmedic]

Afterward I got to take his rectal temperature. This was definitely an eye opening experience.

If the eye was the only thing opening, you did it wrong....

 

[8jimi8]

would be ok with eyes closed too...

 

[CAOX3]

I agree it it would have been more beneficial to correct your actions rather then dismiss you.

We dont have the luxury of picking our teams on the street, so everyone needs to be competent in there actions, shame on them for not helping you get there.

And head up trooper if you continue in EMS there is probably another thousand or so unsuccessful resuscitations in your future. Sometimes we catch lightning in a bottle and thats why we do it, so keep on trucking.

Good luck.

 

[Aidey]

There is usually a red button, switch, pedal, foot pump, etc to push on EVERY gurney that says CPR. Jam your foot on that and get busy.

Just make sure no one is about to intubate or start and IV when you do that.

 

[NJdude24]

my first time was a guy overdosed on 90 pills and he wasnt coming back but the medics said he wasnt dead enough. I did compressions for like 20 minutes and he was not coming back. Dont cry you did what you could, if it was his time to go, it was his time.

 

[6.5diesel_therapy]

I was a lifeguard for 6 years so the first ppl iv done CPR on made it. but everyone in clinical's didnt. i felt like trash and questioned if i was doing it right. but one of my preceptors told me you have to think about there quality of life after if you did save those ppl. keep you head up most them docks are :censored::censored: anyways lol just remember everyones advice and the next code grab the stool and jump in there and work away. good luck to ya

 

[EMSrush]

If the eye was the only thing opening, you did it wrong....

That was just.... awful. LOL

 

[MEDIC802]

My first time doing CPR was back in the early 80's probably around or 84 when i got my basic, I was doing my first clinical rotation on the Ambulance we responded way out in the county to an unresponsive elderly male, back then there was no such thing as enhanced 911, you were lucky to even have a 911 system, anyway, we got to the pt pulseless and apnic,I was scared to death myself I had never really seen a dead person before other than a funeral, I had a great proctor who made sure I did all my BLS skills air way ect , I remember doing one handed CPR in the back of the ambulance and holding on with the other, my hand kept slipping off his chest because i was sweating so bad on the pt , back then it was load and go and high flow diesel, any way the guy didn't make it the doc called it as soon as we rolled through the door, for my first call it was a great start, the medic's let me do my BLS skills before jumping in with ALS.

 

[Foxbat]

My first resuscitation attempt was actually a couple of months ago. If I could describe it in one word, it would be "useless".
The downtime was ~20 minutes; family refused CPR and actually didn't want us to attempt resuscitation either, but they could not produce a DNR and there were no obvious signs of death, so we had no choice. The entire thing just felt very pointless and undignified. The only thing we succeeded in doing was to turn asystole into PEA, and medics ended up calling medical command on the phone to terminate the efforts.
As far as CPR itself, medics said I did well. I'm not sure; I was pressing hard and deep and there was much less chest recoil than I expected. Could it be because I pressed to hard, cracked many ribs and that prevented the chest from recoiling?