Steve, your experience is not unusual. For the past 13 years I have been a chaplain at a major medical center and have witnessed many, many crises situations. Unlike what you might see on TV the success rate for CPR is very low. Outside of a hospital, the survival rate, long term, is about 2%. Inside a hospital it rises to about 17%, but in the long term about 4% return to their previous lifestyle. Our grief can lead us to feel people have acted callously, and sometimes this may be true. But unless you have some professional training your chances of changing the outcome are very low. Of course that doesn't stop us from grieving. I own a pair of Toms's saddles, and had the opportunity to chat with him on the phone. We are left with a sense of helplessness, that we cannot change. I feel stunned. My prayers go out to his family and friends.
Michael On Apr 27, 5:57 pm, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: > On Tue, 2010-04-27 at 16:09 -0500, Shaun Meehan wrote: > > I was on an organized charity ride where a rider went down in front of > > us right out of the gate, on a fairly short but steep climb. Our > > initial reaction was to stop and try to help, so we stopped > > immediately. However some ride officials that arrived on the scene at > > the same time we did, just as immediately told us to keep moving. This > > incident was in a relatively populated and accessible area, but even > > so, we found out later that the guy didn't make it. He'd had a massive > > heart attack. So it's possible that Tom may not have made it even if > > professional help were able to get to him sooner. > > Some years ago I was on a club ride where I was riding along with an ER > nurse and her friend. We stopped at a corner to oil her chain (the > squeaking every time she shifted was driving me nuts) and in the minute > or two we were stopped this guy passed us. We continued down the road, > up a series of moderately steep rollers and at the top of the last rise > saw the guy down on the road, laying on top of his bike. > > He couldn't have been down more than 2 minutes before she was giving him > CPR. I called 911 and walked up to the to of the last rise to stop > traffic, and as I got there a woman who lived in the housing area at the > top of the hill came out and asked what was going on. She called her > brother in law, who was visiting. He was an ER doc and had his full kit > with him. By around 4 min after we saw him, the ER doc was working on > him. Another 2 min later the EMTs arrived and took over. > > We learned he'd had a heart attack, and according to the ER doc it was > not surprising: first nice day of spring, and right after that series of > tough rollers, the toughest hills in the area. Happens all the time on > a day like that, he said. > > We learned later he didn't make it. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
