By now you may have seen the article that is being disseminated wide and far by the Associated Press about the Indiana father who used “CPR skills” that he learned by watching The Office, in order to save his 4 year old daughter who was playing tag and suddenly suffered a heart attack. If you haven’t seen the article, here is a link to a version by the New York Post https://nypost.com/2021/06/24/dad-uses-cpr-skills-from-the-office-to-save-daughter/
To make a long story short, Matt Uber was out with his wife Erin and daughter Vera, on a normal day at the park. As Vera was playing tag with other children, she suddenly hit the ground with a loud thud, became unresponsive and was not breathing. Vera, at just 4 years old, was having a heart attack. Matt found himself, along with additional help from a 911 dispatcher, turning to an episode of the office called “Stress Relief’. It was here where Matt recalled that the character Stanley Hudson states that, “a good trick is to pump to the tune of ‘Staying Alive’ by the Bee Gees” before character Michael Scott begins signing the words to Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive”. Luckily Matt did not find himself using the skills demonstrated by character Dwight Schrute…
Fortunately, in the face of an unfathomable situation, everything ended up working out for Mr. Uber. EMS arrived and ended up bringing Vera back by using an AED. At the hospital
it was discovered that Vera had a mild undiagnosed heart condition called Cardio Ventricular non-compaction (which causes the muscle of the left ventricle to develop incorrectly), and a very rare and more serious condition, Calmodulinopathy, which causes arrhythmia in children. These conditions resulted in Vera’s cardiac arrest and the use of an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), which works very similarly to a pacemaker but primarily focuses on heart rates that are too fast and are normally used in situations where a person’s lower ventricles are abnormal.
What these articles don’t discuss is how Matt was instructed to perform CPR on his daughter by the 911 dispatcher.
**DISCLAIMER** this is not an adequate substitute for taking a CPR class. As this article illustrates, a cardiac event can happen anywhere and in people of any age and apparent health. Sign up for your own CPR class as soon as possible!
Given Vera’s age and apparent size, the 911 dispatcher likely recommended those guidelines put in place by the American Heart Association and American Red Cross.
For CHILD CPR you should do the following.
- Obtain consent (if the child’s guardian is present)
- Assess the child for responsiveness AND BREATHING
o Use a head tilt chin lift maneuver to ensure an open airway and ensure there are no obstructions
- Activate a bystander to call 911 and get an AED if available
- Provide one handed compressions at a depth of approximately 1.5 inches.
- Give 30 compressions at a rate of 100-120 beats per minute (think Staying Alive, WAP, Sweet Home Alabama, Hips Don’t Lie, Work It, etc)
- Ensure an open airway and provide 2 rescue breaths of approximately 1 second (ensure you see the chest rise with each breath)
- DO NOT STOP UNTIL
o The person becomes responsive
o EMS arrives and takes over
Sadly it is all too common that a loved one suffers a cardiac event, and the people around them find themselves untrained and unprepared. It even happens to doctors.
If you are interested in taking a CPR class, or are coming up on your 2 year expiration date and just need a refresher, please sign up for a class today at www.emp2c.com/firstaidtraining We offer classes every weekend in the Frederick area and every Thursday in PA. We have group and corporate rates and hold appointments for those who can’t make our established weekly training times!
Comments