Body of Proof Star Dana Delany Uses Incorrect CPR Technique and Protocol

In the opening scenes in the last episode of Body of Proof, a television series starring Dana Delany as medical examiner Dr. Megan Hunt, a patient was given CPR after being shot in the back. While the writers of Body of Proof, no doubt, will claim dramatic license in the depiction of the scene to further the episode’s story line, the technique and protocol used by Dr. Hunt does not fit with the standard diagnosis and treatment steps as described in the 2010 guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and practiced in real-life resuscitations by trauma surgeons, intensive care physicians, emergency medicine physicians, and prehospital educators. In the scene, Dr. Hunt examines a shooting victim and realizes through undescribed clinical clues that the patient is still alive. She then turns the patient over onto his back, calls for 5 ml of epineprhine, does 2-3 chest compressions with her hands positioned over his left mid-rib cage, gives 2-3 breaths via mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and then injects in a perpendicular direction 5 ml of epinephrine via a large syringe and needle into the anterior left chest cavity. Following ACLS protocol and the standard CPR field protocol taught to and practiced by prehospital personnel, some highlights of  real-life practice and how this differs from the television scene are described below: When a patient is found unresponsive, the ABC protocol is started after a single bystander has called for help. In this scene, Dr. Hunt was atte...
Source: Inside Surgery - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: Musings Body of Proof CPR Dana Delany Megan Hunt protocol Source Type: blogs