Should i have cpr

You could ask your doctors and nurses to make it clear on your record. If you change your mind and want to talk about it, you can. If a decision needs to be made about CPR, your doctors can still decide to complete a form even if you ask not to talk about it. Your doctor will do this if they believe that CPR would not prolong your life or would do you more harm than good.

Even if you ask not to be involved in the decision, you should be told if a DNACPR form is written and placed on your medical records. Doctors can only not tell you that a DNACPR form has been completed for you if they think doing so would cause you physical or psychological harm.

If you are not the patient and the patient has capacity to make their own decisions, they will need to agree to it being discussed with you. If you do not have capacity, your family, friends or those with the legal power to represent you such as a Lasting Power of Attorney can raise concerns on your behalf. It is important to understand that nobody has the right to demand CPR, so the decision may not change if there was a good clinical reason for it for example, your heart, lungs or other organs are struggling to work.

The doctor should explain their reasons and ask about your wishes and preferences. If the DNACPR form was made by a doctor in a hospital, and you are not happy with their response, you can ask to speak to the senior doctor on duty or the consultant responsible for your care. The hospital should have its own complaints procedure. This will tell you how to make a complaint.

You can also have support from an advocate if you want help to make a complaint about your GP or a doctor in the hospital. If you are still not happy with the response you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Page last reviewed: 10 March Next review due: 10 March CPR tries to get your breathing and heart going again. Make every second count. Contact us or consult our FAQ if you have additional questions about CPR training, but call if you have an immediate emergency.

People often use these two terms interchangeably. Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops correctly receiving electrical impulse signals to beat.

A heart attack is the result of restricted or blocked blood flow to the heart. If a person has a heart attack, do not perform CPR unless that individual goes into cardiac arrest.

Deciding to stop CPR is something that has to be determined on a case by case basis. CPR helps keep the blood circulating and delivers oxygen to the body until specialist treatment is available. There is usually enough oxygen still in the blood to keep the brain and other organs alive supported for a few minutes, but it is not circulating unless someone does CPR. Knowing basic emergency first aid and CPR is important — it can be life-saving. Although there is no guarantee that someone will survive from being given CPR, it does give them a chance when otherwise there would have been none.

In an emergency situation someone's health can deteriorate quickly. Call triple zero for an ambulance in an emergency to get medical assistance. Common emergency situations for adults and children include:. If in doubt, call — the operator will direct you to the help you need. Emergency phone operators are trained to help you and can provide advice about what you need to do while you're waiting for emergency services to arrive.

When you call triple zero , you will be asked which service you require. Tell the operator you need an ambulance. You will then be transferred to an ambulance operator and asked for the following information:.

The operator will organise assistance for you while you continue talking on the phone, even though you may not hear them do this. The operator may give you first aid instructions over the phone. If you can, put your phone on loudspeaker. A person in cardiac arrest may grunt, snort or take gasping breaths — this is not normal breathing. Although CPR steps are the same for adults and older children, the technique for babies and young children years is slightly different.

Note: You may need to use the palm of your hand instead of your fingers depending on the size of your baby. CPR can be tiring. If you need a break, ask someone else to assist with minimal disruption. Rotate the person performing compressions every 2 minutes. If you find mouth-to-mouth difficult, continue with chest compressions until medical help arrives. Sometimes, people will have their ribs broken by chest compressions. This is still better than the alternative of not receiving CPR.