We’ve all seen it before on TV: a victim falls to the ground and a Good Samaritan comes to the rescue, begins CPR and revives the person. CPR stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. It is a method of trying to simulate and restore circulation to a person who is unresponsive and without a pulse. It can be a highly effective means to save someone’s life, however it does not have the magical quality that is often conveyed on the big screen. Unfortunately, real life does not imitate television.
Success rates of CPR are based on a number of different variables including:
-The cause of the cardiac or respiratory arrest
-Age and health of the victim
-Time elapsed between arrest and initiation of CPR
-Technique used by person performing CPR
-Location of patient when arrest occurs (i.e. in hospital or out of hospital)
In June 1996, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study about success rates of CPR portrayed on television medical shows such as “ER”, “Chicago Hope” and “Rescue 911”. According to the television shows, CPR is successful about 75% of the time. This is significantly higher than “real-life” CPR success rates published from other studies.
Without the use of automatic defibrillation, survival rates of CPR are as follows:
- 2-30% when outside of the hospital
- 6-15% for hospitalized patients
- Less than 5% for elderly patients with chronic medical problems
Often those who are hospitalized are faced with having to make the decision whether they would want to be “resuscitated or not”. Many people feel that if they choose “do not resuscitate (DNR)” it means that the doctors will not try their best to help them. This is a myth. Do Not Resuscitate does not mean Do Not Treat. Patients who choose to be DNR will still be treated for such things are pneumonia, cancer, choking, heart attacks and even broken bones. They will, however, be allowed to die naturally should their heart stop beating.
Many of us turn to TV and the big screen in order to escape reality. By exaggerating true outcomes, Hollywood does its job and often allows us a reprieve from current life stresses. Sometimes, however, sugarcoating outcomes leads to unrealistic expectations when dealing with a loved one’s illness or injury. Making decisions based on real facts versus television statistics will better serve us all when confronted with unfortunate events and illnesses.
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