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C P R Before Operation

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anaxcrosswords | 16:38 Mon 17th Oct 2016 | Body & Soul
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Thankfully this isn't a real life question - it relates to a video game plot. To avoid references to 'this/that character' I'll use their names, Ellie and Joel.
On their approach to a hospital where Ellie is to undergo a surgical procedure, she drowns. As Joel attempts to revive her he is knocked unconscious by a soldier. When he comes round, he is told Ellie is being prepped for surgery. He is shocked to hear the procedure will kill her, so her rescues her and escapes. Ellie eventually comes round in the back of Joel's car and asks him what happened. So my question is this:
Does a person requiring CPR have to be fully revived (as in awake and coherent) before being anaesthetised? And can CPR be successful even if the patient remains unconscious?
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If CPR works at all (which is only on a fairly small percentage of attempts anyway), all it does is to get the casualties heart pumping oxygen-bearing blood around their body. That doesn't necessarily restore consciousness and, on some occasions, that might not even be desirable (such as when it will be necessary for hospital staff to place the patient into an induced coma).

So, assuming that CPR has been successful, it doesn't change what hospital staff will do and the fact that the casualty remains unconscious after CPR doesn't mean that they won't recover later. (Equally, if they do regain consciousness after CPR, they might still die within the next 48 hours, as many heart attack victims do).
\\\Does a person requiring CPR have to be fully revived (as in awake and coherent) before being anaesthetised?\\\

A very hypothetical situation,but yes as anesthetising someone without a heart beat is a death sentence BUT if the problem os that of an airway obstruction, then an anesthetist is a life saving person to have around.

\\\And can CPR be successful even if the patient remains unconscious?\\

Yes....but the end result is more often than not...a dead patient.


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Thanks both. I was really, really hoping this wasn't a plot hole, so I'm happy!

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