Heart Attack? SELF CPR Special Report!
This originated from: Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240s Newsletter : AND THE BEAT GOES ON(reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. publication, Heart Response)
UPDATE! THIS WAS EMAILED TO ME AND I FELT IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU KNOW 2 SIDES OF THIS ISSUE SO YOU COULD CONSIDER BOTH.
quote:
"From archive of legends & netlore
Cough to Save Your Life?
Posted: 06/30/99 (Updated: 03/01/00)
Please note that the following message (above) contains misleading medical information:
Comments: This message gives the impression that the technique described has the endorsement of Rochester General Hospital and Mended Hearts, a heart attack victims' support group. Although the text was published in a Mended Hearts newsletter, the organization has since retracted it. Rochester General had no part in the creation or dissemination of the message.
According to the best information I can find, "cough CPR" is a real procedure occasionally used in emergency situations under professional supervision. But it is not taught in standard CPR courses, nor is it typically recommended as a "life-saving" measure for people who experience a heart attack when alone.
One doctor I contacted - a heart specialist - had never even heard of it.
Other doctors are familiar with the procedure but say it can only be effective in very specific instances. Dr. Stephen Bohan of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston explained in the Washington Post (Feb. 15, 2000) that in certain instances where a patient has abnormal heart rhythms, coughing can help restore them to normal. But most heart attacks, he said, are not of this type. Bohan told the Post the best thing a heart attack victim can do is take an aspirin (which helps dissolve blood clots) and call 911.
This is a case where a nugget of truth has apparently been misunderstood and misrepresented to the public, though not intentionally. A chapter of Mended Hearts published it without proper research. It was then reprinted by other chapters and eventually found its way into email form.
Darla Bonham, the organization's executive director, has since issued a statement which reads, in part:
I've received email from people all across the country wanting to know if it is a valid medically approved procedure. I contacted a scientist on staff with the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiac Care division, and he was able to track a possible source of the information. The information comes from a professional textbook on emergency cardiac care. This procedure is also known as "cough CPR" and
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