• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

Medical Cpr

Status
Not open for further replies.

Sally sue

Confident
Hi all,

I just wanted to put a feeler out and find out if anyone else's trauma was a result of performing CPR? Almost 4 years ago I worked on a 4 week baby who was resuscitated, and then 2 months later on a friend who stayed dead :( The hard part is that being with other people is my triggers! Coughing, screaming, children who are stuffy, argh! I work with young children! How can I feel at ease in a world that is full of people?

Any thoughts please!
Sally sue
 
I am so sorry, you had the purest intents. I have not had this experience though I am certain my sister has as a nurse and simultaneous broken ribs even. It happens.. you need to forgive yourself dear, you are not God. I am not saying it will make it easier. Sending prayers and hope you find the support you need here !
 
Hey Sally Sue, I haven't directly have that experience but I have a coworker who did and it left a mark on him. He was playing paint ball and one of the people there had a cardiac incident. He resuscitated as long as he could and others made sure EMS was activated, but he was unable to restore the heartbeat. It left a mark on him and we talked about it. He had to do it again to his own granddaughter when she accidentally drowned. He just happened to be dropping off something or another and in the time his daughter went to the door and came back she was unresponsive in the tub. He couldn't revive her either. He has a lot of difficulty with this.
 
Yes, not recently. But about 15 years ago on a trip to Mexico the waiter fell to the floor. I was the only one that got up to help him and I immediately knew he was dying. I had taken CPR but suddenly couldn't remember it. I yelled at my friend to run down the beach yelling for a doctor while I performed mediocre CPR. They literally continued to serve food and drinks, almost over my head. Eventually a man from the beach joined me, but by that time it was clear it was too late.

I was absolutely traumatized. I felt horrifically guilty, thinking my bad cpr was the reason he died. I had to take a few weeks off work and had my first round of medication. It took 2 years for the odor to fade, it was the smell that I recalled most. It was devastating in all ways and my first realization that most people don't help in an emergency.

I am so sorry for your experiences and completely understand. It is a huge responsibility to help, but thank god for you! You are very brave!
 
Thank you for sharing pamcoco and albatross! Up until now I have felt very alone :( people recognize that I have ptsd but it's hard when nobody seems to really get it...I don't wish anyone trauma, but at least I'm not still thinking, with help of these replies that I'm just a stupid-head because all the other people who have done CPR arn't suffering from ptsd...it's not a helpful thought for sure!
 
I have always wondered.....I started having seizures at 14 and no family history. The doctors always said it was from drug use but I did not use drugs that often. I have ptsd
 
When I was teaching CPR for the medical professional/first responders and the community. The course makes pretty clear that the goal of CPR is to keep the organs and hopefully brain viable while emergency services are activated and in route so they can take over rather than reviving the person. I tried to impress that upon my students so as not to get the impression that someone who needs CPR will necessarily revive. It does happen, but is statistically low particularly in adults. Most instructors though overlook this or skim through it (I've found).

I had some people ask, "Then why attempt it?" I would answer, "This is someone's mother/father/sister/brother/child. There is no way to make a determination of whether or not - at the onset of an incident - whether or not CPR is going to be successful. But if it was you or someone in your family that was in an incident that necessitated CPR, wouldn't you have wanted them to try?"

Try to recognize that the most important thing was to perform the action, to attempt to minimize damage until EMS got there... to improve the person's chances for a successful outcome. People can choose to do that, but sometimes we forget that we can not choose the outcome.
 
Last edited:
The hard part is that being with other people is my triggers! Coughing, screaming, children who are stuffy, argh! I work with young children! How can I feel at ease in a world that is full of people?

Doubling back on the initial post I would say that how you can feel at ease in a world of people is learning to manage and improve your coping skills. Looking at the situation as an opportunity to practice self management for me is better than looking at people and situations and stimulation as something to be endured.

What steps can you take each day to improve your ability to withstand noise?

What is the connection between noise and your triggers?

What are your triggers?

What did the unsuccessful attempt at CPR have to do with it?
 
That is an enlightening perspective, thank you Albatross. The ambulance took an hour, something to remember in Mexico. I later realized what you are saying, but it took me years.

Honestly, no matter how traumatized or reluctant, I cannot help myself. I simply am the person that immediately knows the seriousness of a situation and will do everything humanly possible to help.

I have paid dearly for this, but I wouldn't change a thing. You remind me I should take cpr again!
 
Though not CPR, I was in a restaurant once in La Grange Georgia and at the table behind me was a family eating breakfast. The father started actively choking. As the situation continued, he lost the ability to cough and breathe. He was a black man and was very grey. I looked turned full around in my seat and looked at him and said loudly, "Are you choking?" He nodded. "Do you want me to assist you?" He nodded again. I paused for a second looking at his wife and family to see if they would intervene. Nothing. So I jumped up, got behind him and gave him one hard fast abdominal thrust.

To my amazement. out flew a piece of sausage link and he could breathe. Textbook. He said a quick thank you. I sat down back at my seat... and no one else in the restaurant, not even his family skipped a beat. They all resumed eating, as did we, and like you said Pamcoco... the restaurant staff kept on with food service and the other tables in the place acted like nothing had happened.

After a few minutes I felt like a figment of my imagination. Human behavior is weird sometimes. Even my husband was set on "ignore" or "don't get involved".
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top