pop quiz! anyone...

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you have to or be part of the funeral planning .....however CPR on me can be trial and jury and fatal ... For others blood must continue through the most important muscle in the body

I wear a medic alert to warn of the sternectomy and ICD so I am covered do all valve patients have some form of recognized medic alert ???
 
Other than more bruising what difference would a mechanical valve make to CPR ??
I do not have a medic alert, I have a tissue valve and only take one prescription medication, perindopril a common blood pressure medication.
I have no other long term medical conditions.
Emergency medical treatment that I may need would not be any different to a non AVR person, so I can't see the point of it in my situation.
 
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Hmmm, taking the choice between damage and death, please keep me alive!

Not sure what damage culd be done with a vanilla mech valve - presumably if it was recently after surgery, it could re-crack the sternum (and everyone winces in pain at the thought), but at a healthy 36 yes, I'd rather be alive for another 36 years with a few more medical issues than not...
 
I at one time in my life, worked in the Ski patrol at a resort in banff.

A broken sternum can be the result of CPR performed properly. This can occur on folks who have never had their sternum surgically opened. Generally this would be applicable to older folks. No I never had to do the deed!
 
If a person is in cardiac arrest, not performing CPR could mean death. BTW, I recently read that the new CPR recommendation is to perfrom chest compressions only (without periodically inflating the lungs,) which I thought was an interesting development.

JIm
BANG on Jim
here is a link to that fact
http://medicine.arizona.edu/spotlight/learn-sarver-heart-centers-continuous-chest-compression-cpr

As to doing it on me or the other seven survivors IF (and that is a big IF) it is done you should do infant style but with the aid of something flat to spread the compressions

When I woke up in the hospital after the second coma there were a few hand written signs around the room and a LARGE one above the head of the bed "NO COMPESSIONS" and I thought my wafe was really fed up now
smiley2582.gif
then they explained that I had no sternum so I asked if I should get a "no compression" tatoo and since then I have had an ICD implanted now I wonder if the tatoo should look like this ...........................

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note jumpercables

once the ICD was implanted this was an option



icdavatar.jpg


But for the valvers there is no other choice but to do the compressions
 
If I was near death in the middle of no-where I suppose the CPR compressions would be welcome.
Otherwise, with my osteoporosis and protruding sternal wires, the thought of undergoing CPR is frightening.
 
I'm with Old Man Emu on this one. Once it's healed,the sternum should be as strong or better than original for most folks. The mechanical valve is made of pyrolytic carbon, so it is hard, but the compression and the heart muscle will likely spread the pressure some. Granted, there are maybe twelve weeks right after surgery when it would be very difficult to do without damage for any open heart surgery patient.

The problem is, I'm also with the numerous folks above who pointed out that, if you don't do the compressions, the person may very well die. It would be tough to explain to a grieving relative that, "well, I could have done the compressions to save him, but I didn't, because I thought it might hurt him." Given the situation, I would try to give the compressions. It would certainly be a scary proposition for someone you know. However, as yet another person pointed out, you wouldn't find out that a stranger had a mechanical valve until later, so then the situation would be moot.

Best wishes,
 
I was an EMS worker for over 25 years. Performed CPR on many occasions. A broken sternum is quite common for patients receiving CPR. I'm not sure it really matters. If a patient is in cardiac arrest, not doing CPR would surely result in death. I think I would take my chances.
 
I have been thinking about this recently and i found this old thread

My thoughts however were not the sternal wires or sternum but the mech valve itself,
could the mech valve cause surrounding tissue damage ?
 
“30 to 2 no matter who”
Thats what I was taught in my last first aid refresher
So 30 compressions to 2 breaths
 
My thoughts however were not the sternal wires or sternum but the mech valve itself, could the mech valve cause surrounding tissue damage ?
dunno, its possible. I'm not sure we place that much force on the heart however during CPR.

I guess some tissue damage is more treatable than death though...
 
“30 to 2 no matter who”
Thats what I was taught in my last first aid refresher
So 30 compressions to 2 breaths

How long ago were you taught? Many are teaching just compression, no breaths. Reason being compression keeps blood in the brain. Pausing compression for two breaths allows blood to leave the brain. Minimal oxygen gain in the breaths vs just keeping blood circulating until the heart restarts or an AED can be used.
 
Guess it takes away the fear of “mouth to mouth” and catching something so people are more likely to do it.
A friend did the old old method (think it was 10 compressions and 5 breaths) on a guy in a restaurant who had a heart attack, he saved him.
And at work a few yrs ago a guy was saved using the 30-2 method and a defib.
So yep do something because it just might work.
 

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