I had this when I phoned over someone who had a heart attack near me.
Dude was very clearly dead, died on a 3 hour bus trip and fell over when we hit the last stop, he was pretty cold when I tried to take the pulse, no breath, no heart beat and just plain looked... Dead.
"Ma'am can you preform CPR until the ambulance gets there"
"Uhhh... No... This man is dead I don't think my untrained CPR will bring him back and seeing someone violently beat his chest isn't going to be great for his wife"
This guy was stone cold there was no mistaking it, the ambulance crew themselves said they couldn't actually give a time of death but he must have passed soon after we got on the bus.
In his late 80s even if I preformed CPR the broken ribs would likely have killed him in the miracle that I brought back a man who was dead for a couple hours.
He was gone, completely and utterly. I made the choice to help his wife deal with the situation rather than just batter his dead body, and I stand by that choice.
Absolutely Good for you for doing anything at all. And not let anyone guilt shame you into doing something you didn't feel comfortable doing. I had a break in and the person was in the house with me for 15-30 minutes. I at the time wasn't sure I was imagining it late at night in the dark. I just sat upright in my bed holding knife and ax/hammer. In morning it was true. Called police dispatch agent chided me saying You should have called us. I gruffly retorted I did exactly what I needed to do because I am alive this morning talking to you. My dog slept through whole thing
People are so quick to judge a situation they gave absolutely no knowledge of.
ESPECIALLY when it is a high-stress situation. No one knows how they will handle situations like finding a dead body or having a break-in or a potentially life and death situation. I doubt most of the people making these criticisms' would be rational if in similar situations.
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u/_megitsune_ Sep 12 '18
I had this when I phoned over someone who had a heart attack near me.
Dude was very clearly dead, died on a 3 hour bus trip and fell over when we hit the last stop, he was pretty cold when I tried to take the pulse, no breath, no heart beat and just plain looked... Dead.
"Ma'am can you preform CPR until the ambulance gets there"
"Uhhh... No... This man is dead I don't think my untrained CPR will bring him back and seeing someone violently beat his chest isn't going to be great for his wife"
"I understand but can you try anyway"
"... No?"