I had to do cpr on someone today :(

[LandCleve]

I won’t give too many details but it’s left me feeling really sad and I just wanted to write it down :(.

I was pretty sure the person had gone by the time I found them - I was on the phone to the person’s adult child as I discovered them so had to break the news. And then as I was doing cpr I could hear bones breaking :(.

Next week would’ve been my late dh’s birthday so my emotions are a bit raw anyway, and today hasn’t helped.

You gave that person compassion and dignity. Just sending a virtual hug and a huge well done .

I can only riterate what everyone has said / thank you for trying. I am sure the fact you did will bring comfort to the persons family.

I have not done a CPR course in years - but in your honor tomorrow am going to spend time online refreshing my memory on what to do ❤️

There is a group on Facebook called 'chain of survival' for people who have done cpr like you have - they are so supportive and really understand how it can affect you. You did a very hard thing and I'm sure the family are very grateful.

That's one of those sensations that you can only understand if you've done it. I have (unfortunately) done cpr a few times out of hospital (more than I can count in hospital) and it's bloody scary, once on an flight home from Greece. Another in front of my child who was around 8 at the time whilst out shopping.

Well done you 👏🏻

Thank you for all the reassurance and kindness. I’m usually quite calm and level headed, but then I’m not usually in this situation :(

Well done you. The children will be pleased you tried.

I think they should teach CPR at school, annually. I think the statistics are though that it works less than one in ten times unfortunately but it’s obviously still such a valuable thing to do until further help arrives.
I also think there is an app that can tell you where the nearest defribillator is.

Just echoing what others have said. You are a hero, well done.

Look after yourself now. I'm the same as another poster, my CPR training was years ago, I'm going to spend some time tomorrow just refreshing it. Thank you.

@crimsonlake

Sorry you have gone through this..the thing that strikes me if I was ever in this situation with an older person you do not know if they have signed a DNR.

That's the point, though - you don't know - you can't know.

So you try to give them the time until somebody who does know and has authority can make that decision. Never feel guilty for not knowing, it's not your responsibility to know, it's not your responsibility to decide, it's not your responsibility to refuse or stop. To me, your only responsibility is to try and the knowledge that you did all you could is the knowledge that you did what was right.

We tried to save the life of another biker who was hit head on by another who'd been speeding.
With hindsight, he was probably already dead or dying as we parked up the bike and went over. Car drivers who had stopped kept trying to stop us removing his helmet. While it's good to know they knew this, the bloke wasn't breathing, so priorities change. We've been trained to safely remove and it's a 2 person job. Mr GB tried to clear his tongue from down his throat and had some success, although he seemed full of blood. The CPR resulted in waves of blood coming up from his chest.
So we tried to save a man's life, but failed.
This still haunts us both

@BoreOfWhabylon

I went and said goodbye and made sure they were covered with the duvet .

What kindness, care and compassion, you absolute

In my loooong career as an A&E nurse, I performed CPR hundreds, if not thousands, of times. Yes ribs break and it feels awful. The older the person, the more likely this is to happen. Yes there can be noises. This is because, as you press down on the chest, air can be forced up the airways and through the larynx (voice box). Air can also be forced back up from the stomach, like burping.

It's difficult enough for trained and experienced professionals. OP and others on the thread who attempted this without any experience should be proud of themselves.

@boreofwhabylon thank you for your explanation of noises, it helps to understand what caused it in my case.

What didnt help was the operator on the 999 call all of a sudden became really unsure of what to advise when asked about the noise, which led yo the doubt that something not normal was happening.

If you dont mind me asking, in your experience would pneumonia as the cause of death hve made any sort of noises like bubbling/air while doing cpr? As I understand it, pneumonia would have resulted in fluid in the lungs, would that have moved when doing cpr?

You tried Granny. And you had taken the time and trouble to learn how to do things properly.

Oh granny you tried. What more can any of us do?

Just thank you - you did everything you could - my husband died but I know that so many people tried to save him and that gave me comfort.
Look after yourself xxxx

Bless you.

If you dont mind me asking, in your experience would pneumonia as the cause of death hve made any sort of noises like bubbling/air while doing cpr? As I understand it, pneumonia would have resulted in fluid in the lungs, would that have moved when doing cpr?

Yes, in my experience. People with pneumonia and other lung conditions can have noisy bubbly rattly breathing at the best of times. Pressing down on the chest will force air back up the airways causing bubbling gurgling noises. It most certainly doesn't mean that CPR is not being performed correctly.

@BoreOfWhabylon

If you dont mind me asking, in your experience would pneumonia as the cause of death hve made any sort of noises like bubbling/air while doing cpr? As I understand it, pneumonia would have resulted in fluid in the lungs, would that have moved when doing cpr?

Yes, in my experience. People with pneumonia and other lung conditions can have noisy bubbly rattly breathing at the best of times. Pressing down on the chest will force air back up the airways causing bubbling gurgling noises. It most certainly doesn't mean that CPR is not being performed correctly.

Thank you for that, it really helps ❤

It must have been such a comfort to the adult children to know that someone was with their parent doing something to try and help. Someone was there with them, a stranger cared enough to do that.
Hold on to that.

Just wanted to say you are so brave and echo what everyone else is saying. @NeverDropYourMooncup thank you so much for your post I think that's great advice to share.

@ChatterMonkey Like you, the operator may never had actually had to perform CPR. I'm pretty sure they will have sought advice after the call about the noises and will know for future calls.

It's hugely difficult and stressful to take such calls and give resuscitation advice. Debriefs are often required and the calls may be audited and feedback given by more experienced staff/mentors.

If you feel up to it, you could contact the ambulance service involved to give them feedback about this. It will be listened to and, if necessary, acted on.

Well done for trying op, you should feel proud of yourself
We were so grateful that ny Uncle's neighbour did CPR on him. It didn't work sadly and I know she found it very uosetting but we were grateful she tried

for you op, as we bought for her too

Thank you so much OP
What you've done today is amazing. It must have been so traumatic for you, but you did everything you could. Be kind to yourself

to Op and all who have been in this situation.
I haven’t read the whole thread and I’m sure someone has already said this, but you could not have made it any worse. Due to my job, I have to do CPR training every year and although how many compressions/breaths you have to do seems to change nearly every time, one thing never changes. We are always told that yes you may break ribs (particularly in elderly people), but you cannot make things worse as if someone needs CPR they are not breathing and have no circulation, ie they are essentially dead. What you are doing with CPR is keeping things moving so that there is an (admittedly v slim) chance that the ambulance service, when they arrive, will be able to shock the heart back into action. You really CANNOT make things worse. Without your efforts they would definitely die. Well done for stepping up.

Well done OP and to all other posters who have done this. Take time to process this and allow whatever feelings cone up to just be you did a great thing

Well done OP. It must have been a horrible experience, but good on you for stepping up.

Well done @LandCleve.

Look after yourself