May 9, 2017
The biggest barrier to many systems’ CPR survival rates skyrocketing is the pubic’s lack of willingness to perform CPR before a rescuer gets on scene. Those roughly five minutes might be the most important five minutes in a patient’s chance for survival. Many systems have tried to teach more hands only CPR, or perform “flash mob” trainings as a way to get the word out there about the importance of CPR. Frequently, the top two concerns that I’ve heard expressed by the public are the perceived legal issues, or the “what if I do it wrong?” attitude, and the fear of giving mouth to mouth to a stranger. In reality though, neither of these factors truly come into play anymore with good Samaritan protecvtion laws and a new found focus on compression only CPR.
This morning I read a news story shared by EMS1 about a woman who nearly lost her son who now hosts “CPR parties” and it got me thinking. My girlfriend has a problem, and I know that she is not alone. On an almost weekly basis, our mailbox becomes filled with products from some company called Lu La Roe, or as I have come to call it “Lou Lou La Rue.” In reality, I am okay with it because I feel a little more justified when I buy games off of Steam or have an afternoon of craft beer and Amazon Prime purchasing. She told me how she has spent time on Facebook attending virtual parties where people will go through their inventory on a platform like Facebook Live.
I know for a fact that there are at least a couple of paramedics who sell products like Lu La Roe on the side, and I thought that this might be a great opportunity to do some teaching. In reality, all that one needs to learn how to do hands only CPR is a pillow and a couple of minutes. In corporate some “100 beats-per-minute” music, and a person could put together a free, informative CPR class that could save a life with just a couple of minutes of education tied in to a sales presentation. Seems simple, right?
These are the kinds of opportunities that we are constantly missing. If a crew is on a standby at a sporting or social event, why don’t they have a CPR dummy or two with them? If they are doing a show and tell at a school, why not give the kids the chance to do something hands on? The earlier that we capture people’s minds, the more willing they will be to help down the road. It might be the only way that we get people to put down their cell phones, stop video taping people in what might be a near-fatal incident, and start helping again. We do not need a CPR card in everybody’s pocket. We do not need a doctor, nurse or EMT present for every life threatening emergency at the moment that it happens. We just need a public that is educated and willing to help should they come upon an emergency.
There are a number of things that EMS services have a lot of control over like their local policies and procedures, and the knowledge and ability levels of those that they employ. We need to stop overlooking the influence that we have on the public and start getting out there and educating them too.