Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Once upon a time, I was visiting at my parents' place and we were just clearing up after Sunday lunch. Suddenly there was a pounding on the door and my parents' immediate neighbour, in pieces, crying out for help.

Her husband had had a heart attack. She'd dialled 999 and the GP then, in the terror of it, run to the nearest resource, her neighbour of over 30 years who was also a trained first aider. Mum and Dad rushed to help, Mum being a St John Ambulance trained person.

Mum was doing CPR when the GP arrived and took over, shortly followed by paramedics, even though neighbour gent was already blue from the jawline up when the alarm was raised, and was almost certainly beyond even expert help at that point. It didn't stop her trying to save him, even though she believed it was hopeless.

Would anyone put in such a position say to their neighbour You know, dear, he is over 60 and has had a serious heart condition for years, it was always on the cards that it would end like this, don't you think it's what he would have wanted?

And how would that have sat with his wife/ widow and his three grown children?

[Deleted User]

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

because one day that person could well be me and its possible to tell everyone close to you not to do so if that ever happens...but then what happens if you have an "arrest" in front of a stranger and they then have no way of knowing you don't wish to be revived and your first words on coming round would be to call them every name you could think of for having done so?

There are many causes of cardiac arrest, some of which would leave little or no long term damage, provided you are revived quickly.

Suppose you were at work, and got hit by an electric shock, or overcome by gas or fumes.

Given you could, on being revived, make a complete recovery, would you really want your workmates to just stand there, and watch you die?

Then is there some card or something you can carry that says words to effect of "Do NOT do so - leave well alone"....as I'd like one personally and I expect some others would too.

DNR notices are, generally, only applied to people with life shortening conditions, like terminal cancer. Healthy people don't generally carry them, as a matter of routine.

As for aspirin, I keep a couple of dissolvable tablets, in my first aid kits.

Doveling

Subject close to home

My brother had a cardiac arrest, was saved and very glad he was.
My father has had DNR put on all his medical notes and has told everyone he knows that is what he wants.

I don't know of any DNR cards or dogtags being available (as there are for diabetes and asthma) but there might be.

My first instinct for an unkown person would be to start CPR. Time spent looking for a card to see whether the person wanted it or not is time that cannot be spared.

Ryanna2599

thriftwizard wrote: »

Depends on your tastes, Ryanna2599 - Haw-Sin sauce, for example, is a very piquant accompaniment to duck! Tart & tasty, with a dryness that compliments the rich flesh very nicely. Rowanberry is very similar, without the dryness; rather good with venison. Rosehip makes the very best & finest country wine; I've passed mine off as a rich sherry before now without anyone saying a word - though maybe they were just being polite. Or too far gone to tell...

Rosehips also work quite well in a jelly with crab-apples; the result smells almost as good as it tastes. However you must be very careful to strain it carefully; the little hairs in rosehips are a powerful irritant.

ETA: just in case you're thinking, duck? venison? OS???, I live in an area where deer have actually become a nuisance & venison is quite often cheaper than beef, and duck no more expensive than free-range chicken. I'll almost certainly be buying some tomorrow at £3.33 for about 5 duck breasts to put in a stir fry.

Thank you all for the suggestions on what else to make with different berries. I'm going to attempt them next year as I've used up most of my stored jars in the last week or so making spiced plum jam from a big bag of plums from my in-laws garden (the jam tastes like Christmas on toast due to having cloves and cinnamon in the jam) and crab apple jelly (from a tree I stumbled across in a local park). The freezer is also packed with more elderberries and a bag each of sloes & medlars (a fruit I had to google to work out what it was - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mespilus_germanica).

Due to my very low stock of saved jam jars does anyone know where I can purchase more at a reasonable price? Thanks

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm with your father on this - and that might be one way forward (ie of adopting his idea of putting DNR on all records of mine).

I think I may have to make up a card of my own to put in my purse - along with my debit card/library card/etc. It wouldn't take more than seconds to pick up my handbag (always with me if I'm out) and find my purse in it to see if I had a card stating my wishes.

I understand that anyone nearby will be upset - but that is a way they will probably feel regardless of outcome. Only during the last week I had someone break down in front of me at the thought of a recent accident her friend had had whilst with her and was duly comforting her and saying that was entirely understandable. It was initially thought the accident was very serious - but fortunately her friend has made an absolutely remarkable recovery from it. The breakdown was obviously a delayed shock one and had occurred, despite her now knowing her friend is fit and well again.

Doveling

Do all of you have an ICE number on your mobiles? Saves random people being rung on your phone if there is an emergency - sure my milkman wouldn't want to be with me in A&E :rotfl:

(Hope never to be in A&E obviously )

I have loads of jam jars in the shed, must put them on freecycle.

ivyleaf

MITSTM As you obviously feel very strongly that you would not want to be revived, how about a Medic-@lert bracelet or necklace to say so, as well as a card?

Doveling I have our son as an ICE number. Not got around to adding either of our DDs, but DS is probably the one most likely to be able to drop everything and come.
OH hasn't got an ICE number on his phone at all and had never heard of the idea when I asked him a couple of months ago. I suggested he put at least one of the children on it, but I don't know if he has, so I'd better check. Thanks for jogging my memory

[Deleted User]

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I think I may have to make up a card of my own to put in my purse - along with my debit card/library card/etc. It wouldn't take more than seconds to pick up my handbag (always with me if I'm out) and find my purse in it to see if I had a card stating my wishes.

There's no way I'd search through a casualty's purse/wallet/pockets, before commencing CPR, for two reasons.

1) It's wasting valuable time.

2) It might be misinterpreted, as me robbing a dead person.

I'd always follow the DRABC procedure.

ETA: Always useful to keep on your key-ring, is one of these.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007168FQM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

Alloneword

Doveling wrote: »

I don't know of any DNR cards or dogtags being available (as there are for diabetes and asthma) but there might be.

Go to eBay and punch in "do not resuscitate" i found 104 hits.

All1

moneyistooshorttomention

Thanks.

You learn something new every day. Just had a quick look at that and will head over towards Amazon website to see what they have then. Would be useful to have one of those wristbands if ever problems started developing.