I missed the tip-off to the Wisconsin/Arizona game [View all]

[Scuba]

I was on my hands and knees in the back of a restaraunt giving CPR to a man who collapsed. Paramedics arrived about 10 minutes later and carted him off to the local hospital - blue, unresponsive but alive. We heard later his preliminary diagnosis was heart attack and he was taken by air ambulance to the better-equipped facility in Appleton. Hope he makes it.

I had only arrived a couple minutes earlier when there was a commotion behind us. At first I though a drunk fell (statistically most probable for the venue), then that a man was having a seizure. When someone asked "does anyone know CPR?" I jumped in, checked that his throat was clear and started chest compressions. A heads-up waitress callled 911.

I had very recently read that mouth-to-mouth is no longer a required element for lay persons giving CPR, but that Continuous Chest Compression (called Hands Only by the American Heart Association) is a recommended method for "bystanders who witness an adult suddenly collapse." I started counting to 100 when another fellow joined and began mouth-to-mouth. Fortunately we were able to give the man full CPR. (When I spoke to him later I found it amusing that we were both long-time healthcare guys with virtually no hands-on clinical experience. Just a couple engineers with specialties in healthcare who had CPR training in our pasts.)


For those "unwilling, unable, untrained or are no longer able to perform full CPR" Continuous Chest Compression without mouth-to-mouth is now a "preferred method for bystanders who witness an adult suddenly collapse."

http://www.responsetrack.net/staywell/0408/Compression_Only_CPR/?1484O1B76CV

Anyway, I hope the guy makes it. Oh, and the Badgers won.