Eagle River woman dead - Whittier, Alaska

[MikeHoncho]

If the EMS transport time is high like in a previous post, that would cause it also. EMTs and Advance EMTs generally can’t call it. Only Paramedics. I’ve also seen it where there would be some sort of electrical activity and CPR would continue for quite a long time. Generally asystole rhythm, CPR is ended fairly quick. With someone young and no signs of trauma, and if CPR was initiated prettt quick, I could see trying for a little longer. I hope they had a Lucas or something.

I have a hard time seeing a system without paramedics not having the ability to call a patient within typical parameters and medical contact (my system requires this) 120 minutes of cpr (assuming no pulse) isnt applicable with any non-pulse electrical activity other than what I mentioned earlier. I’m sure there is a exception or two but those would be well beyond the in field crews ability. Regarding stopping….most progressive systems/protocols have “loss of communication“ procedures were if you can’t contact medical control (the doc your working under) you follow protocol like you have contact. They also contain perimeters for stopping. Paramedic 28 years

 

[BlueTrin]

Except that says there is usually not one: "In the common law of most English-speaking countries, there is no general duty to come to the rescue of another.[1] Generally, a person cannot be held liable for doing nothing while another person is in peril"

I don’t think anyone in this thread implied that duty to rescue was in the US, @Vicko only mentioned that it some countries it is mandatory to do it and that it can be hard on the person.

 

[Hiszpan]

Except that says there is usually not one: "In the common law of most English-speaking countries, there is no general duty to come to the rescue of another.[1] Generally, a person cannot be held liable for doing nothing while another person is in peril"

‘Generally’ is your key word here. There have been cases in US where a doctor was found guilty of negligence where he could have rendered help easily but he did not do so as he was officially not on duty. That help was found to could have drastically changed the fatal outcome.

 

[boulderjohn]

Considering this, all someone would need to do would be to say they 'don't know how', or (as politicians do) 'forgot' how to do cpr properly.

Part of CPR instruction, at least in the course I teach, tells students that there is a strong tendency among people in a CPR situation to avoid doing it because they are afraid they will not do it properly, but they need to understand that CPR done badly is better than no CPR.

 

[Vicko]

Considering this, all someone would need to do would be to say they 'don't know how', or (as politicians do) 'forgot' how to do cpr properly.

Why would someone look for excuses not to attempt to save someone's life?

 

[Boarderguy]

Why would someone look for excuses not to attempt to save someone's life?

Fear of failure. So many people in our society are more likely to cry on the sideline and call for help than go into action themselves... more often it is because they want to record the event

 

[boulderjohn]

Fear of failure. So many people in our society are more likely to cry on the sideline and call for help than go into action themselves... more often it is because they want to record the event

This is also addressed in modern first aid courses. I taught first aid more than 50 years ago, and the courses taught today are less complicated than they were then, and it is intentional. Research indicated that people with first aid training would freeze and do nothing during a first aid situation because they were afraid they had not remembered enough of their coursework to act correctly. In an attempt to help with this, course material that was considered less essential was omitted. An example of that is using pressure points to stop arterial bleeding. That is not taught any more for that reason. They work as well as they ever did, but the theory is that first aiders should have one thought--direct pressure--when they see bleeding.

 

[rjack321]

I do hope that her buddy was administering CPR in the four or so minutes before help arrived. Just guessing, I suppose that she lost consciousness, dropped her reg, and drowned, then her buddy saw that she was in distress without her reg. I do hope someone up there can obtain autopsy results when they become available.

Autopsy results are confidential medical records in Alaska. Similar to Washington state, they are only released to next of kin. While her surviving family could in theory tell random strangers on the internet, this woman's medical records are none of our business.