Sudden Death and the Myth of Cpr

by Timmermans, Stefan

• ISBN13: 9781566397162
• ISBN10: 1566397162
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-19
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR is for anyone who has taken a CPR course or who believes the images from television dramas. It is also for families of victims and survivors of CPR. It will engage emergency personnel, others in the medical field, and anyone concerned with ethical issues of death and dying.

Author Biography

Stefan Timmermans is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University and is widely published on the topic of health care.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Bern Shen
Preface	xv
Introduction: What They Didn't Tell you in Your CPR Course	1	(3)
The Myth of CPR	4	(2)
How Dignified Is Sudden Death?	6	(5)
Death Awareness in the United States	11	(20)
The Emergence of Death Awareness	12	(6)
Hospice Care	18	(3)
Right-to-Die Movement	21	(3)
The ``Good'' Death	24	(4)
Toward a Dignified Sudden Death?	28	(3)
The Search for the Best Resuscitation Technique	31	(25)
The Royal Humane Society	33	(5)
The Resuscitation Techniques of the Royal Humane Society	38	(5)
The Vital Principle	38	(4)
The Schafer Technique	42	(1)
Resuscitation Research in the United States	43	(11)
Manual Artificial Ventilation Methods	43	(3)
The Obstructed Airway	46	(1)
Mouth-to-Mouth Ventilation	47	(2)
Chest Compressions	49	(5)
The Origins of Resuscitation Beliefs	54	(2)
CPR for All	56	(34)
Professional Versus Lay CPR	58	(4)
Patient Transportation	62	(4)
Consolidation of the Emergency Medical System	66	(3)
Survival Rates	69	(15)
The Chain of Survival	74	(3)
Some CPR Is Better Than No CPR	77	(2)
What Is Survival?	79	(3)
Number-to-Number Inflation	82	(2)
The Economic Cost of Saving Lives	84	(2)
Universal Lifesaving	86	(4)
Lifesaving in Action	90	(25)
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation	91	(5)
Paramedics	96	(4)
The Emergency Department	100	(8)
Ritual, Medicalization, and Community	108	(7)
Deciding Life and Death	115	(38)
Reaching Decisions	115	(2)
Initial Impression	117	(2)
Dead on Arrival	119	(1)
The Rush of the First Minutes	119	(9)
The Resuscitation Team	119	(1)
Retrieving Clinical Information	120	(3)
Circumstances of the Cardiac Arrest	123	(1)
The Patient's Social Viability	124	(4)
Resuscitation Trajectories	128	(21)
Legal Death Trajectory	130	(8)
Elite Death Trajectory	138	(4)
Temporary Stabilization Trajectory	142	(5)
Stabilization Trajectory	147	(2)
Social Inequality of Sudden Death	149	(4)
``There Is a Code and a Code''	153	(31)
The Routines of Emergencies	153	(1)
Becoming a Resuscitator	154	(6)
Major Categories	160	(17)
The Successful Resuscitative Effort	160	(5)
The Bad Resuscitative Effort	165	(5)
The Tragic Resuscitative Effort	170	(5)
The Non-Category	175	(2)
Personal Philosophy	177	(3)
Comfort with Sudden Death	180	(4)
Saving Life or Saving Death?	184	(23)
Resuscitation Ethic	184	(2)
More Effective CPR	186	(5)
Empowering Relatives and Friends	191	(6)
Family Attendance	197	(7)
Final Reflections	204	(3)
Appendix: Methodology	207	(6)
Notes	213	(20)
References	233	(16)
Index	249