Are you looking for place to read full E-Books without downloading? You can also read and download new and old full E-Books. DOWNLOAD THIS BOOK FOR FREE
Your loved one's medical provider is asking you to consider a "do not resuscitate order." This surprises you because you wonder, wouldn't everyone want CPR? In addition, you worry that if you forgo CPR, you may be robbing your loved one of a chance to live longer. It feels like a big decision, to forgo CPR, but the answers to support your decision making are readily available.
What is CPR? CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It is a rescue procedure to be used when the heart and lungs have stopped working. It involves a series of chest compressions that are combined with blowing air into a person's lungs which is intended to keep essential blood and oxygen supplied to the person's brain. It is an emergency procedure to be started until a person can be transported to the hospital where they can receive more advanced life support. Let's break down the decision making process into three steps:
1) what you may think CPR is
2) what are the real facts and, of course
3) the emotional part of the decision.
Let's start with your perceptions. You are not alone in your thinking that CPR is often successful. Most of our perceptions come from our environment which includes watching television. There is actually research on television shows where actors received CPR as part of the script. On television, seventy five percent of the recipients survived CPR. This research study concluded that the portrayal of CPR on television may lead the viewing public to have an unrealistic impression of CPR and its chance of success.
Let's go to the facts. What factors will improve your chance of surviving CPR? First factor is how quickly CPR is started. The sooner CPR is started, the better the chance of survival. The emergency medical system personnel have to reach the person quickly. Brain damage begins within 4-6 minutes. According to the American Heart Association, for every minute a cardiac arrest victim does not receive CPR, his chances of survival drop 7 to 10 percent. Realistically, there is a very good chance emergency medical services (EMS) cannot respond fast enough to save someone in cardiac arrest. In fact, the national average EMS response time is 10-12 minutes, so even the best EMS responders could have difficulty arriving in time. (This is why it is so important for lay people to learn CPR and to get it started quickly. The second factor is where the person is located when CPR is started. Your chance of surviving CPR is far better in a hospital than outside of a hospital.
A research study in the July 2, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine showed that survival from CPR in the hospital is less than 18%. This study showed that out of a million patients who received CPR in the hospital, less that 18% lived to be discharged from the hospital. The results of this study were unchanged from a similar study done in 1992. In comparison to receiving CPR at home, the odds are still in your favor to be in the hospital if you were to go into cardiac arrest. The in-hospital survival rate is 10-20%, while the out-of-hospital survival rate is 1-5%. The third factor is determined by how old or disabled the person is who is receiving CPR. The survival statistics for patients in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are grim. The reality is that if you are dependent on others for your care, your CPR survival rate is estimated at 1-2%.
So why do people choose CPR when it is clear that for certain patients it will not work. For many, they really don't know the survival statistics and they make decisions according to their perceptions. For some, they fear that in refusing CPR, their loved one will be alone and in distress at the time of their dying. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those patients who refuse CPR will receive maximum comfort measures as they are dying naturally. Some family members who choose CPR for their dying loved one often do so because they want more time with them. They don't realize that after receiving CPR, ill patients who survive, are more debilitated and often unable to participate in conversations with their loved ones.
When faced with medical decisions for your loved one, take the time to understand the research. If emotional factors are influencing your decision, get help. If your loved one is in a hospital, the hospital social worker or chaplain will help you sort out the issues. In addition, you can ask for a palliative care or hospice consult. If your loved one is at home, many hospices and palliative care services will visit them to lend support in decision making. The good medical decisions that you make today will support you for many years after your loved one is gone.
.Are you looking full ebook about this topicGet Full Ebook For This Article
