• Home
  • Contact
  • About
  • DavidKonig.com
  • News
  • Social Media
  • Event Medical Services

The Social Medic

It's All Fun And Games Until Someone Gets Hurt... Then It's A Job

  • The Official Guide To Blogging For EMS
  • 25 Things They Should Have Taught You In Medic School… But Didn’t
  • The Pride of the Hills

Cardiac Arrest Dangers Highlighted To Public After Rocker Tom Petty Dies

October 4, 2017 by Dave Konig

I saw the first image on Facebook, a headline from the NY Daily News proclaiming that Tom Petty’s death draws attention to dangers of cardiac arrest. I literally smacked my head when I read the line at the end of the article:

But with emergency medical attention, cardiac arrest can be reversed. When used within a few minutes, a defibrillator can shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.

I was amazed at the barely 300-word rudimentary content being passed off as news articles today. Then I saw other articles that practically regurgitated the same deluded information:

  • CBS News – Tom Petty’s death from cardiac arrest shines spotlight on sudden killer
  • Today – What is a cardiac arrest? Tom Petty’s death puts focus on condition
  • USA Today – The deaths of Tom Petty and Hugh Hefner: What is cardiac arrest?

The best article is probably the one from USA Today, because at least it points out that Hugh Hefner also died from cardiac arrest with other contributing factors.

The truth is, everyone who dies suffers from cardiac arrest.

There is also no such thing as a “partial” cardiac arrest. There are only two kinds of arrests out there, respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest. You can have a respiratory arrest with cardiac activity, but you can’t have a cardiac arrest with respiratory activity. The improper application of the EMS jargon “full arrest” by reporters, who generally speaking are medical laypeople, is misleading to the public.

Why does this misrepresentation matter to us? It continues to set expectations of our services that we as an industry are unable to meet. It is important that we take this conversation further than the 300 some odd words thrown together by the “hometown” newspaper. Agencies need to focus on the elements of a successful resuscitation (early CPR, defibrillator access, continuous compressions, etc.), lest the public think all they need to do is dial the magic numbers and their loved ones will be easily cured of this electrical short circuit.

As the saying, often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, goes, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

On a brighter note, today is National Taco Day! May your tortillas be crunchy (or soft), your sour cream be creamy, and your cheese be shredded!!!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Emergency Medical Services, Mainstream Media, Public Perception

Did you find what you are looking for?

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Top Posts & Pages

  • FDNY And Bloomberg Replace Ambulances Providing 911 Service With Extortion Services
    FDNY And Bloomberg Replace Ambulances Providing 911 Service With Extortion Services

The Disclaimer

This is a weblog, most commonly referred to as a "blog". The opinions and thoughts expressed here represent my own and are NOT those of my employer, any associations, or any volunteer organizations I am a member of.

In addition, my thoughts and opinions will change from time to time. While some may see this as detrimental and may at times appear hypocritical, it is a necessity to maintain an open minded mentality which is in my (current) opinion more important than defending out dated thoughts and opinions with voracity. Change is not automatically a bad thing, but quite contrary a necessity in the grand scheme of evolution as individuals, organizations, professions, and society as a whole.

Stories on this weblog concerning patients is HIPAA compliant. Those stories have been changed dramatically to remove patient identifiers including name, sex, geographical locations, date, time, and sex. Any similarities to real patients, living or deceased, is purely a coincidence.

Recent Posts: David Konig

The Last Jedi is #1 in The Biggest 2nd Weekend Drops in Hollywood History

The Last Jedi is #1 in The Biggest 2nd Weekend Drops in Hollywood History

Last week I made a prediction based on my disappointment walking out of The Last Jedi. Contrary to the corporate shills peddling that The Last Jedi would be considered a fantastically amazing Star Wars movie, I believed the movie disappointed more than it thrilled and would see at least a 60% decrease in the box […]

Recent Posts: Event Medical Services NYC

The Top 6 Things About Event Medical Services Your Boss Wants To Know

The Top 6 Things About Event Medical Services Your Boss Wants To Know

“The person who knows HOW will always have a job. The person who knows WHY will always be his boss.” – Alanis Morrissette If your boss is anything like my boss, they probably ask a lot of questions. You may find yourself, as I often find myself, repeating the answers over and over and over […]

Matters By Topic

Older Words of Wisdom

Flickr’ed

#DVaMain

Copyright © 2019 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in