As another poster had commented - what kind of doctor leaves the victim on the bed while trying to do CPR?
A friend of mine (firefighter) said when they respond to a heart attack type thing they give CPR until the EMT’s arrive - even if they are sure the guy is dead. And the EMTs continue into the aid car.
I said “Oh, I suppose you never know if the guy is really “dead” or not”.
He replied “No - we just don’t want to have the guy’s family be there when we declare him dead.” I’m not sure if that was more for the family’s sake or the for the sake of the rescuers.
That’s certainly possible.
another,
When the dispatcher learns there is a doctor present, he/she acts immediately as if outranked.
If the EMTs wanted to declare him dead, but a medical doctor present does not, perhaps the EMTs are outranked?
Certainly they might get scared that if the doctor refused to declare him dead—and they didn’t deliver him to a hospital...think of the conspiracy theories!
>> what kind of doctor leaves the victim on the bed while trying to do CPR?
First thing I thought of too. The doc is clearly incompetent.
LQ
If the person is obviously dead, it's rare, in my experience that we begin CPR. HOWEVER, you won't get in trouble for doing CPR on a dead person, you will for not doing it on a live person that is in full arrest. There have been cases of people pronounced dead waking up in the morgue. They're rare, but when they happen, it ends several careers, and creates the distinct possibility that the individual suffered irreversible damage that could have been prevented with prompt medical care. So, if I'm going to screw up, and the worst thing that can happen is he won't be dead anymore, I'm doing CPR.
In obvious cases, such as rigor mortise, loss of 1/2 of the upper head, or pooling, I wouldn't start CPR unless there was the risk of violence on scene if we didn't.
People never forget being in the room when a loved one dies. If there's ANY chance of survival, I'm going for it. If the death of the victim is a foregone conclusion, my next concern is the family. It's bad, and it's going to be bad. We won't change that. The question to me is, is the emotional damage of seeing us doing futile work, starting IVs, exposing the chest, doing compressions and possible breaking ribs, and putting a tube down the patient's throat more painful, OR, do they need the assurance in their own minds that everything that could possibly be done was done?