Toilet Plunger CPR
Tae H Kim
[ Author was MrCPRtoday (mrcpr...@aol.com) ]
[ Posted on 3 Jan 1995 15:13:39 -0500 ]
Active Compression-Decompression CPR: Toilet Plunger Gives Rise To New
Device For CPR
by Gary J. Barton
One Saturday evening while watching TV, a man collapsed in front of his
family. Although his 22-year-old son knew little about CPR, he remembered
something his mother had done twice before to save his father. The son
ran upstairs, grabbed a toilet plunger from the bathroom, and plunged his
father's chest until paramedics arrived. By that time the father had
begun to breathe on his own.
The patient was then brought to San Francisco General Hospital where he
was found not to have suffered a myocardial infarction. The doctors
treating the man were intrigued by the novel method of cardiac
resuscitation used in his case. They speculated that the plunger served
both as a precordial thump and effective chest compressor, while suction
between the chest wall and the plunger served to ventilate the patient as
well.
The son, delighted by the success of his mother's toilet plunger
technique, recommended that plungers be placed next to all the beds of the
coronary care unit. While the team of physicians treating the man, headed
by Keith G. Lurie, M.D. of the University of California, San Francisco
(UCSF), recommended the son take a basic CPR course -- but had to admit
that it's hard to argue with success.
Inspired by the news that a heart attack victim was resuscitated by
pumping on his chest with a toilet plunger, researchers at UCSF, including
Todd J. Cohen, M.D.; Kelly J. Tucker, M.D. and Michael L. Callaham, M.D.,
developed a suction device for use in CPR. Perhaps the first practical
improvement in CPR since 1960, the Active Compression-Decompression (ACD)
Resuscitator is made of a large rubber suction cup attached to a
horizontal handle about a foot in diameter and a couple of inches thick.
The device works by placing the suction cup on the victim's chest,
gripping the handle with both hands, then pushing and pulling the device
in the same rhythm as conventional CPR.
When the rescuer pushes down with the device it compresses the chest much
in the same way manual compressions do in traditional CPR. And, by
pulling up on the chest (active decompression) more blood is drawn into
the heart. With more blood drawn into the heart during the active
decompression phase, more blood is forced out of the heart during the
compression phase. Similarly, air is forced in and out of the lungs at
the same time.
A number of scientific studies have been conducted to test the device with
promising results. The ACD Resuscitator, manufactured by Ambu, Inc., is
already available in Europe and Canada. The Food and Drug Administration
is considering approval of the device for use in the USA.
Undoubtedly, CPR instructors will be increasingly called upon to address
ACD CPR in their BLS and ACLS courses. Perhaps it is time to begin to
develop guidelines for the use of this new device.
Note: The above article originally appeared in the 2nd Quarter 1994 issue
of the CPR Innovator, the magazine for people who teach CPR. A follow-up
article on the same subject, titled "Feel A Heart Attack Coming? Go To
France" appeared in the 4th Quarter 1994 issue detailing the delays in
getting US approval for this device from the FDA. For a free sample copy
of the CPR Innovator, or for information about subscribing or obtaining
back issues, send e-mail to: MrCPR...@aol.com
MrCPR...@aol.com
HinTysen
Kim) writes:
>...a man collapsed in front of his family. Although his 22-year-old son
knew little >about CPR, he remembered
>something his mother had done twice before to save his father. The son
>ran upstairs, grabbed a toilet plunger from the bathroom, and plunged his
>father's chest until paramedics arrived.
Too bad the kid didn't grab the Roto-Rooter instead!
Atlas Eclipticalis
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b+++ B- e* u---* h!>++@ f* r++ n+ y-**$ | o o
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