Everybody’s An Expert
Thursday, February 8th, 2007, 5:08 pm
Back in our hotel room after a swim we turn on the TV and see the news that Anna Nicole Smith has died. In the middle of the usual baseless speculations CNN puts Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the screen explaining what paramedics do when they find someone unconscious and unresponsive on the floor.
Dr. Gupta says that you check the airway, check the breathing, then you intubate the person, and then you check for a heartbeat…
“That’s wrong,” Mark said. “You check the airway, give a few rescue breaths, and then you check for a heartbeat. If you don’t find one you defibrillate immediately.”
Then he said, “The protocols changed about five or six years ago, but, hey, he’s the one on national TV talking about this stuff.” Shrug.
So, don’t believe everything you see. Or read. Or hear. Check, and double-check. Heck, I’m triple-checking Mark right now. These says, being a hard-core skeptic is the only way to safely get across the street.
5 Responses to “Everybody’s An Expert”
Leave a Reply
February 8th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Mark has it wrong too. Guidelines now mandate checking the most vital part first- the wallet.
February 9th, 2007 at 9:28 am
What?!? I thought every guy who CNN/Fox/BBC trotted out was the defacto expert on the topic they were discussing 🙂
February 9th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Thats why I take all my medical advice from Dr Dre.
Lets just say he doesnt have many glaucoma patients.
February 12th, 2007 at 2:19 am
if you are going to have a credible blog, you should read the transcript. gupta said you check the abc’s. “make sure someone is breathing and then begin a full resuscitation” according the acls guidelines, that is exactly what it says. who the hell is mark?
February 16th, 2007 at 6:53 am
Dunno who Dr. Segal is, but he’s wrong. During the live broadcast Dr. Gupta said exactly what I said he said. I know (and Mark knows) for sure that he never said “make sure someone is breathing and begin a full resuscitation”. He definitely said you should intubate the patient before you even check for a heartbeat. Maybe CNN cleaned up the transcript. And my blog is so fucking credible you could brush your teeth with it.