hi, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you tell me a few ways a person who doesn't experience chronic pain/disability can provide eCPR for someone who does?
Thank you for this page by the way.
No. Unfortunately I know nothing about this subject and am thus not at all qualified to answer your question. Sorry to disappoint!
ECPR requires a specific machine and is not performed by the average person, or ever really done outside of very specific situations in hospitals. If you mean emergency CPR, that’s just referred to as CPR because any situation where you need to do compressions is considered an emergency, and as mentioned, ECPR is an actual thing with an entirely different process.
That said, I’ve taken CPR certification a few times, and I also work with people who are disabled. At the end of the day CPR on a disabled person or person who has chronic pain is really the same as CPR on anyone else. The only difference is if someone is in a chair you need to get them out and laying on the ground, and if someone is in a bed you lay them down flat. CPR is not something you can ease up on unless the person receiving it is a child or infant, because it takes a lot of force to restart an adult human’s heart using compressions. It will hurt, ribs will break, it’s kind of unavoidable, and that’s why you only use CPR if someone’s heart has stopped. (If they’re not breathing but still have a pulse you use rescue breaths, which is different and less damaging.) You unfortunately cannot modify CPR so that it can be done more while in a chair or sitting up, you must get the person lying on the ground and perform it as normal, or else you’re risking the compressions not being powerful enough to work.
CPR is a life-saving measure and under the good samaratin law, someone performing CPR cannot be prosecuted for injuries as a result of performing compressions as in situations where someone is injured and unconscious, consent to first aid is always assumed. That said, if you’re really worried about it, take a first aid and CPR course for more information on performing it properly.