Self CPR & Self Heimlich

Self CPR
Recently I have received several emails about SELF CPR. It is proposed as a means to help if you have a heart attack and you are alone.

The last email I got said this...

"HOW to SURVIVE a HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE"... Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest..!! A breath & a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs plus coughing movements squeeze the heart & keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives..!! "

I did some checking on the Internet and found that many people consider this to be a hoax. The American Heart Association does not endorse "Cough CPR" as seen in their statement here American Heart Association Statement.

My thought was this. If I couldn't get quick medical help I would try it anyway. What do you think?

Self Heimlich
This Self CPR stuff got me to thinking about doing the Heimlich maneuver on your self if you were alone. I found out it is possible. Check out HealthScout for details. Also I found the following at eMedicineHealth:

You are choking and you are alone: You may deliver an abdominal thrust on yourself. This can be done in one of two ways.

• You can deliver a true "self"–abdominal thrust with your own hands. This is done by positioning your hands in the same fashion as if you were performing the maneuver on another person and delivering an inward and upward thrust.
  
  
• Another option is to bend your belly over a firm object, such as the back of a chair, and thrust yourself into the object.

My Thinking
I hope we don't have to use either of these methods, but "just in case" this info might be helpful down the road. The best thing to do if you are having a heart attack is to call 911 and get to the hospital ASAP. If you get choked and can't talk, the best thing to do is to point to your throat and make motion to indicate that you need the Heimlich Maneuver done on you, or do it to yourself.

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Quote of the Day

Politicians are the same all over.
They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev

~~~
Joke of the Day

A man was out for a walk one day and on his travels he wandered through a farm. Strangely, he saw a pig with a wooden leg! This intrigued him so much he found the farmer and quizzed him about it.

"This be no ordinary pig" said the farmer. "For example, only two days ago there was a fire in the chicken shed when I was away from the farm. The pig noticed this and immediately went and let all the chickens out into the yard. He then phoned for the fire brigade and came straight back to hold the fire until they arrived!"

"And a few weeks ago, I was driving my tractor down a steep hill, when I lost control and the vehicle overturned - knocking me unconscious! The pig saw this, phoned for the ambulance and then rushed to the tractor and pulled me clear of the cab just before it set on fire."

The farmer was just about to launch into another tale when the man said "Yes yes, but what about the wooden leg?"

"Well" said the farmer "when you've got an pig as good as that, you don't eat it all at once!"

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