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Original poster

CPR for 15 mins ,dont know outcome ,airlifted to hospital

237 replies

peridito · 30/08/2020 12:37

Brother in 70's . Friend gave CPR . He must be gone ,don't you think ?
Anyone know if the airlifting might indicate that there was some thought that he might survive ?

OP posts:
Original poster
peridito · 01/09/2020 15:01

Yes of course sashh ,well put and I'll try and put it like that when talking to her .

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 01/09/2020 16:00

I did CPR on a baby at work and had exactly the same thoughts about did I do it properly. It really helped to have debrief about it. Could she talk to one of the doctors and go through what happened with them. It really is quite a traumatic thing to have to do. I felt very unsettled by it for a long while afterwards.

Original poster
peridito · 01/09/2020 16:59

What a good idea teaplease . Would you be able to suggest any pointers for who/how she could ask about this ?

There were a lot of personnel involved - helicopter ,police ,ambulance and now he's in ICU .

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EndothermicHands · 01/09/2020 18:02

As part of my job I am often part of the cardiac arrest team that gets called out of hours in hospital to arrests and unwell patients. We are professionals, fully trained, understand what we are doing and the implications and even we get traumatised by it and get left with "what ifs". What really helps is a de-briefing by a senior member of the team, often the ITU consultant at the arrest. It helps to put things into context and enables you to ask the questions you are struggling with. Your friend should ask for something like this as a safe space to ask "silly" (never silly questions but they feel like it) questions that eat away at you otherwise.

Your poor friend, I hope she is being kind to herself.Flowers

Original poster
peridito · 01/09/2020 21:07

So...apparently has pneumonia ,possibly from inhaling stomach contents .
Blood oxygen levels low and he remains on light sedation with a respirator .
Eyes open but unaware of surroundings .Some response to sound .
Heart function tests to be done when off respirator and sedation .
Early days I guess .

OP posts:
Heatherjayne1972 · 01/09/2020 22:19

We’ve always been taught that you can’t do cpr wrong - there’s a particular way that They teach but if you can’t remember and do whatever you can remember that’s enough

Anything is better than nothing

I hope your brother is on the mend tho op

MustShowDH · 01/09/2020 23:48

He's made it through the first 24hrs and is in the best place. It might be a long road to full recovery, but he's hanging in there.
If you look back to your first post where you thought you'd lost him, things are better than they seemed then.
best wishes to you all.

Shamoo · 02/09/2020 00:04

Thinking of you and all of your loved ones OP. Flowers

Goldistheanswer · 02/09/2020 01:17

Thinking of you OP and your brother at such a worrying time. 💐

alexdgr8 · 02/09/2020 01:34

are you at the hosp, OP ?

Original poster
peridito · 02/09/2020 06:31

Thank you everyone .Helpful comments .

I'm not at the hospital ,it's 3 or 4 hours drive away and visiting is very restricted .But we may be reaching the point where sharing the visiting would be more of a kindness to my brothers partner .Previous thinking was if we see him then it deprives her .

If that makes sense .

OP posts:
Original poster
peridito · 02/09/2020 06:38

@DefinatelyAWeeGobshite
@sashh
@Toddlerteaplease

and anyone else with experience of CPR ....my brother has pneumonia and it's been suggested that this could be from stomach contents entering the lungs . Is this a common thing related to CPR ?

OP posts:
Hercwasonaroll · 02/09/2020 06:47

Really common. To do cpr properly you pretty much have to break ribs. This has its own complications from infection, fluid movement and lung damage.

Best of luck op. In very similar circumstances we had a miraculous outcome. I hope you are as lucky.

sashh · 02/09/2020 07:35

Yes.

But that doesn't mean the CPR was wrong.

CPR is brutal, you are making a heart pump through compressing ribs, and lungs and more ribs.

This is why hospitals have DNR for some patients, it's a risk assessment, will the risks of damage from CPR outweigh the quality and length of life?

If you can visit and give his partner a break then I think you should do.

I'm sending you positive thoughts.

AlternativePerspective · 02/09/2020 08:08

Yes it’s common.

I had pneumonia after I had a cardiac arrest, and I was in absolute agony because of the compressions. The consultant who came to see me afterwards said that I was lucky, often people have broken ribs/punctured lungs and all sorts...

@ EndothermicHands I’ve benefited from and have seen the crash teams at work when I was in hospital. Actually the first time the crash team was called to another patient I had a panic attack because it brought back flashbacks of my own arrest a few days previously. But actually i think seeing them work on others was like a kind of therapy, because A, they often achieved so much, and B, it is pretty remarkable how what seems to be a massive number of them seemingly appear from nowhere. I’m sure they must teleport from somewhere or something. Grin
But by the time I came out of hospital I had moved past my own experience and was at a point where all I feel is awe for the crash teams... IS that wrong? Smile

Original poster
peridito · 02/09/2020 08:49

Thank you all ,that's really helpful to know .

I'm visiting ( arranged some time ago ) one of my other brothers over the next few days .He and his wife both have advanced terminal cancers ,no children ,and it would be ,almost ,unthinkable if I were to cancel or postpone my visit. They are also hours away and in opposite direction to brother in ICU .

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Bloodybridget · 02/09/2020 08:55

@peridito I am so sorry you are in this horrible situation with two of your brothers. Sending you very warm wishes and hope the brother in hospital can recover.

Original poster
peridito · 02/09/2020 19:49

Well they can't remove the respirator because he needs to be able to cough for them to do so .And he's not able to respond to commands yet ,can't squeeze a hand or follow a hand movement .

So ,not the best of progress .

OP posts:
PurpleMustang · 02/09/2020 20:59

Please don't worry too much as yet. Some days seem slow progress and others really fast. This one thing may be taking time but his body is also trying to fix/fight several things at once. And yes the pneumonia is common, as explained to you, during the CPR the stomach contents can go into the lungs causing this, so is not a bad/unusual thing at all. Can just mean things like a delay in surgery if needed. You may just want to warn his partner that they can be extremely confused when come around. Seem to know what is happening that day and the next forget all that happened the day before. It is all normal. Please keep us updated and ask any questions. Sorry to hear about your other ill relatives aswell.

Original poster
peridito · 02/09/2020 21:39

Hi Purple ,thank you .

My other brothers ( I have 4) are saying that infections can make one v confused . I am well aware of this but lack of response -eyes not tracking movement for example - is not the same thing as confusion.

Or am I wrong ? Thoughts ?

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PurpleMustang · 02/09/2020 23:25

Yes it is correct that infections can cause confusion but the pneumonia doesn't always present straight away. Many survivors talk of confusion for start, it is just the brain trying to recover. Also many after recovering say that they have a loss of time before the incident and afterwards. Regarding the eyes tracking, acknowledging commands hopefully it will just be a matter of time. Speak can also take time. It may be best to ask those looking after him if this is usual or is he not responding as quickly as they would like. For us everything is new and abnormal, but do remember they see this all the time. And do ask questions, as it is daily for them they may not think of obvious things to tell the family. Like if this is to be expected, are they worried about this, what would next steps be, or is all ok and just to be patient

PurpleMustang · 02/09/2020 23:29

Yes it is correct that infections can cause confusion but the pneumonia doesn't always present straight away. Many survivors talk of confusion for start, it is just the brain trying to recover. Also many after recovering say that they have a loss of time before the incident and afterwards. Regarding the eyes tracking, acknowledging commands hopefully it will just be a matter of time. Speech can also take time. It may be best to ask those looking after him if this is usual or is he not responding as quickly as they would like. For us everything is new and abnormal, but do remember they see this all the time. And do ask questions, as it is daily for them they may not think of obvious things to tell the family. Like if this is to be expected, are they worried about this, what would next steps be, or is all ok and just to be patient. Honestly you could speculate all day long, it is best to ask

Original poster
peridito · 03/09/2020 08:35

Thank you Purple - good suggestions about what to ask staff .

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MustShowDH · 03/09/2020 17:33

I don't know if you can remember back up to my first post, where I said I thought my friend would be a 'vegetable'? The eyes not tracking, spasticity in his hands etc. It's hard to believe they'll ever recover and obviously some don't. The hospital won't give you false hope.
BUT, even after looking like this, my friend is now home. He can laugh and joke with my husband, talk about football etc. He's not how he was, but is STILL making progress.

Prepare for the worst, but it's okay to hope for the best too.x

Sexnotgender · 03/09/2020 17:46

How is he today?

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