Most people don’t think of summer as a time for learning, but an ER doctor thinks an incident on a Cape Cod beach is an important lesson for everyone.
“Here is a perfect story to highlight why knowing CPR is a benefit to the community,” said Jacob Crowell, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Cape Cod Hospital.
On July 6, a healthy 74-year-old man was walking along Mayflower Beach in Dennis when he suddenly collapsed.
Police officers responded quickly and deployed their AED (automated external defibrillator), according to Crowell.
The patient, who had no previous coronary history, was taken by ambulance to Cape Cod Hospital.
“He was admitted to the cardiac unit and stayed for about nine days, with tests and multiple cardiac procedures, and was discharged to a rehabilitation hospital,” said Dr. Crowell. “He had outpatient cardiology visits scheduled in August, so I assume he is home and doing well at this point.
Early, high-quality compressions and early defibrillation are the two factors that increase the odds for survival from cardiac arrest, according to Crowell.
“Everyone in the community should be trained in CPR,” he said.
Resources for CPR training, he said, include the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross and Cape Cod CPR & First Aid Training (a private company).
AEDs are now standard equipment in most police vehicles, he said.
That’s a lifesaver, he said because police cars go faster than ambulances and are deployed throughout a community, so they’re usually much closer to an incident.
“The Mayflower story is a reminder that training in basic CPR and the use of the AED makes a huge difference in survivability,” he said.