The Hidden Harms of CPR; The brutal procedure can save lives, but only in particular cases. Why has it become a default treatment? Although CPR has become synonymous with medical heroism, nearly
nearly eighty-five per cent of those who receive it in a hospital die, their last moments marked by pain and chaos; it is an open secret in medicine that CPR is both brutal and rarely effective.
‘The result, done correctly, is akin to assault. The force of compressions can shatter ribs and breastbones, puncture lungs, bruise the heart, and cause major blood vessels to rupture. Repeated electrical shocks can burn flesh. Even if the procedure restores a heartbeat, brain damage—whether mild memory loss or a vegetative state—occurs in forty per cent of hospitalized patients.’
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-weekend-essay/the-hidden-harms-of-cpr
My buddy was in palliative care. 85 pounds. He had been on a transplant list but fell below the weight required. But they forgot to take his name off the list. A liver came up, he was next. He was whisked to Vancouver General. The surgeon was legally required to put the liver in him. So he did. He flatlined. Ten minutes of CPR. They paddled him. They were ready to call it and Boompa boompa boompa. A steady heart beat. They checked his liver function. Nothing. They checked it again. Full function. When he woke up they told him he would be in critical care for a month, then GF Strong rehab for 3-6 months. He was home in ten days. It was wild. The doctor told us ‘you know that last minute CPR stuff younsee on TV? It never works. We go through the motions so we can say we did everything. But, it worked!’ This was six years ago. Still going strong.
The article is pretty decent about the ethics of using CPR on older dying patients, but it unwittingly describes the deadly procedure they were using for COV-19. How they were destroying patients lungs and kidneys using Remdesivir, while not using other safe stuff that actually worked. Then blaming it on Covid for cover. And btw, CPR is sure in the news these days- wonder why?