mouth to mouth for a stranger on the street?

Zehava

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 6:32 pm

A middle aged African American man had a seizure right in front of me on the street. He was breathing the whole time. I called 911 and stayed there Til they arrived. Just wondering if he would've stopped breathing what I would do. I mean he could have aids, HIV or something... Wwyd?

tigerwife

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 6:49 pm

Tough call. You know what the right thing to do is, but...
They actually make pocket-sized masks JIC. I should really carry one around myself.
You can also poke a hole through a plastic bag- remember, you're breathing out, not in) but in a vital situation that may take too long.

Either way, you rock for keeping your cool and likely saving someone's life! You are a hero!

greenfire

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 6:53 pm

first off that sounds scary ... good of you to sit with him ...

a young white girl could have std's just the same ...

I'm thinking that anyone who knows cpr - and can deal with all the emotional & medical ability to administer the same ... you assume that all body substance isolation is necessary and might carry on their person one of those cpr mini pocket rescue masks

http://www.amazon.com/Ambu-Poc.....KQEIA

zaq

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 6:57 pm

The current wisdom is that bypasser CPR should be done with chest compressions only, no breaths. There is enough residual oxygen in blood to maintain life for a bit so long as --here's the critical part--the blood is kept circulating by chest compressions. Plus, the rebound after you compress the chest draws some outside air into the lungs provided the airway is not blocked.

BTW what does the fact that the man was black have to do with anything? Haven't you heard of universal precautions? white people get bloodborne diseases, too--even nice, well-to-do, educated, "clean" people--and hepatitis B and C, which can lead to liver cancer, are far more common and far easier to contract than HIV.

Rubber Ducky

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 6:59 pm

deena19k wrote:

Just fyi, the current cpr protocol does not include any mouth to mouth at all. It is only chest compressions.

To those who have learned CPR and were not aware of the change, maybe it's time for a refresher course...

greenfire

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 7:15 pm

even if a person isn't breathing ??? I actually saved a life by giving cpr as in mouth-to-mouth last year ...

Last edited by greenfire on Wed, Mar 12 2014, 6:39 pm; edited 1 time in total

carpediem

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 8:19 pm

I'm an EMT- the first thing we were taught is your safety comes first. So if a stranger stops breathing in front of you you do not risk your health by performing mouth to mouth. Which btw I've never done because on an ambulance you always use a BVM (ambu bag), and if for some reason you don't have one, you always use a mask.

Last edited by carpediem on Mon, Mar 10 2014, 8:51 pm; edited 1 time in total

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 8:27 pm

I am definitely not current on my first aid. But had I been in such a situation, would you think it better for me to administer my old fashioned cpr, or just wait for an ambulance to come?

SplitPea

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 8:29 pm

Emt as well. Current CPR standards for non professional single person is compressions only. I carry a mask in my purse and would only do rescue breathing on an adult with it. A baby or young child I might if I feel it is needed (but probably more in a chocking situation)

carpediem

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 8:40 pm

kb wrote:

I am definitely not current on my first aid. But had I been in such a situation, would you think it better for me to administer my old fashioned cpr, or just wait for an ambulance to come?

It's worthwhile to take a refresher course- you never know if something can happen, god forbid.
You were probably taught A,B,C- they've actually updated it to C,A,B. The best thing to do if you are a bystander without a protective device (& do not know this person intimately to know they are not infected with anything) is compressions

ange

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 8:42 pm

Heard from a hatzolah member at a CPR class...never do CPR without protection for yourself. Example given... He gave CPR to a teenager, Frum, and later found out that the kid was HIV positive from a blood transfusion he had received. Nice of the family to tell him, of course...not!

Your safety first.

eschaya

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 8:46 pm

I second all the CAB people. When someone goes down they have enough oxygen in their blood to oxygenate their tissues for a while. The main problem in an (adult) arrest is that the heart is not circulating that oxygenated blood so the tissues (important ones, like the brain and lungs and kidneys) get the oxygen they need. Chest compressions do just that. Hopefully you will have activated EMS at the same time you start CPR so that by the time the oxygen content of their blood is being depleted, EMS will have arrived with oxygen and intubation equipment and you'll let them take over.
In the case of a child, although I would still start with compressions, I might deliver breaths because I am less afraid of contracting an illness and also because children's arrests are more likely to be respiratory in nature than cardiac.
I've done CPR many times, but it's always been in a hospital setting where we have ambu bags so I"ve never had to do mouth-to-mouth.

chocolate chips

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 9:37 pm

ange wrote:

I thought people who are hiv positive cannot give blood?!

Op you are so brave for keeping your cool...I would have frozen! Or called 911 but had a huge freak out when I got home...

amother

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 9:40 pm

chocolate chips wrote:

I thought people who are hiv positive cannot give blood?!

Op you are so brave for keeping your cool...I would have frozen! Or called 911 but had a huge freak out when I got home...

They test blood, but nothing is 100%. so some hiv and hep c might slip through every once in a long time

amother

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 9:41 pm

Zehava wrote:

DONT! your health and life come first!

Zehava

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 9:47 pm

chocolate chips wrote:

I thought people who are hiv positive cannot give blood?!

Op you are so brave for keeping your cool...I would have frozen! Or called 911 but had a huge freak out when I got home...

I worked at a special school some years back. One kid in my classroom had seizures every few minutes so seizures don't scare me as much anymore.