Should somebody drop to the floor because they are no longer breathing, would you be able to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR?
CPR is really one of those skills you don’t think you need to know how to do until you need to do it and by then it may be too late to learn.
Enter Netcare 911 which now offers a service in which callers at an emergency situation are shown how to do CPR effectively.
When a call reports an emergency via Netcare 911’s National Emergency Operations Center (EOC), a coordinator sends the caller a link to a secure video platform where the caller can see and hear the co-ordinator.
“A second qualified health provider, a registered nurse or paramedic, then demonstrates the relevant CPR technique for an adult, child or an infant on an appropriately sized mannequin representing the patient at our designated and specially equipped Telehealth CPR station at our EOC. All the while, a case manager coaches the caller to copy their actions to perform CPR correctly on the patient at the scene,” explains Zita van Zyl, critical care operations manager at Netcare 911.
“Thanks to the visual element of the two-way video link, the caller can more accurately follow the CPR technique required, while our ‘CPR coach’ provides informed and detailed feedback to the caller to guide their CPR efforts,” van Zyl adds.
“In this way, it is possible for the caller to replicate the CPR actions, with the necessary depth and rate of chest compressions to keep the patient’s blood circulating to their vital organs until professional help arrives on scene.”
While you could simply watch a video, the benefit of having professionals on a live stream allows them to tailor their advice to the caller’s specific situation. Furthermore, the video element also allows Netcare 911 staff and healthcare professionals to make an assessment of the patient before they’re on scene. This could be significant information as regards the possible resources the patient may need.
This is a really smart solution from Netcare 911 that makes use of existing technology to solve a real problem.
This service can be accessed when calling Netcare 911’s EOC on 082 911.
Something we learned today is that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is not the only way to perform CPR.
“Few people are aware that CPR does not require mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as recent findings show ‘hands only’ CPR can be as effective as the traditional technique involving giving the patient rescue breaths,” explains director of operations at Netcare 911, Shalen Ramduth.
We’re going to be saving Netcare 911’s number right away just in case we need this and perhaps you should as well.
