Two long breaths. Then 30 rapid compressions.
Two long breaths. Then 30 rapid compressions.
Anyone past the age of thirty knows that most phone calls you receive at two o’clock in the morning aren’t likely to bear good news.
And so it was for me when my phone rang bedside and I reached over to see who the caller was. It was a miracle that I even heard it ring since I hold the world’s record as the most sound sleeper.
Drakeford the name on Caller-ID flashed, letting me know the person on the other end was my chief of police.
Two long breaths. Then 30 rapid compressions.
Two long breaths. Then 30 rapid compressions.
“Hello,” I answered, clearing my throat in an effort to sound more awake than asleep.
“Mayor, this is chief. I’m afraid I have some pretty bad news.
“What is it,” I asked, only half wanting to know.
“I hate to tell you this Mayor but Thomas Franklin passed away about an hour ago.”
Thomas Franklin had been the city’s building inspector for more than 15 years. He’d been an employee of the city for more than 20.
Two long breaths. Then 30 rapid compressions.
I paused to gather my thoughts but emotions surfaced instead.
‘Thomas Franklin passed away.’ The words spoke of such finality they left no room for compromise. No room for interpretation. No misunderstanding. There was but one conclusion to be drawn.
Say something, I commanded myself. Knowing it was the only way to hold back the emotions.
“Ah-hum, what happened?” I muttered.
”We got a 911 call around midnight from his house. When we arrived at the scene it was obvious he had suffered cardiac arrest. The paramedics were there and they worked on him pretty good I’m told. For a long time, they said, but they couldn’t bring him back.”
From out of nowhere a flood of emotions gathered in my head. I took deep breaths in an effort to fill the space where those emotions once dwelled.
“Ok,” I sputtered, “I’ll see you later this morning.” And ended the call.
“What happened?” my wife inquired from her side of the bed.“Thomas Franklin suffered a heart attack,” I responded. Unable to tell her the complete truth for fear of letting go of all the emotion held inside.
Two long breaths. Then 30 rapid compressions.
The following morning I called Jim Yancy and asked him to come to City Hall and counsel our employees. We were all devastated by Thomas’ passing and it took weeks for the full affect to sink in. Even now it hurts to recall the loss.
Given that his heart attack happened on a weekday it occurred to me that 12 hours either way and he would have been on the job. What then? Would he have had a better chance at survival? I knew then my staff and I needed to learn CPR.
We invited a representative from the local ambulance service to attend one of our staff meetings and teach us CPR. They came and over the course of two hours instructed us in the proper procedure for administering CPR. It’s a fairly intricate yet simple procedure, and the steps we learned can be found at the end of this post. But as I often do when trying to learn a step-by-step procedure, I looked for a tag, or line, or short phrase that would enable me to put the steps to memory. For CPR it was this:
Two long breaths. Then 30 rapid compressions.
PROCEDURE FOR ADULT CPR:
- Make certain the victim is safe from further injury; secure the scene.
- Call out for help, and if others are around instruct someone to call 911.
- Determine if the person is responsive: check for breathing, ask them if they’re ok; nudge them moderately.
- Clear the air passage by lifting the chin and tilting their head back slightly.
- Pinch the nose and open the victim’s mouth, covering their mouth with yours, and give two long breaths slowly.
- Check to see if the person’s chest rises and lowers with each breath. If not, return to step 4 above.
- Place the palm of your hand at the center of the victim’s chest. Place your other hand on top of the first and interlace your fingers.
- Sit up and lean over so that your shoulders are directly above your hands. Then, using your shoulders and upper body, push down on the chest 30 times in rapid succession.
- Stop compressions and give two slow breaths.
- Continue CPR until medical help arrives.
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment