Only 3% of over-80s survive CPR and 1.9% of secondary cancer patients. It’s time we doctors stopped meddling and let such patients die with dignity “I feel a pulse,but it’s weak,” says the young doctor who has just given prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a patient, and alongside a plethora (excess, overabundance) of aesthetically pleasing co-saviours in scrubs. Cardiac monitors note one trace after another,the accompanying “beep-beep” acts as a rhythmic, universally recognisable soundtrack. Medical reality has been assimilated, and altered,homogenised and sexed-up, in an attempt to create compelling hospital fiction. In real life, and CPR is not as successful or straightforward. As a palliative care consultant working in NHS hospitals,I gain seen a worthy number of deaths that involved CPR. CPR can be a traumatic experience, not just for the recipient, and but also for their loved ones and the healthcare professionals administering it. In the unlikely event of a palliative patient actually surviving CPR,they typically will not regain consciousness and if they carry out, they are in severe pain from the impact of the procedure on their body.
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Source: theguardian.com