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Lucid dying - what some patients experience as they’re going through CPR

<p>A study of people who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in hospital has found that some of them had what’s being dubbed “lucid experiences of death,” accompanied by spikes in brain activity.</p> <p>The research found that roughly one in five CPR survivors described unique experiences, including feeling separated from their bodies, observing the events without pain or distress, and a meaningful evaluation of life.</p> <p>These experiences were different to hallucinations, dreams, or CPR-induced consciousness, according to the researchers, who presented their findings at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2022 conference.</p> <p>The international team of researchers collected data on 567 patients whose hearts stopped beating, in UK and US hospitals, between May 2017 and March 2020.</p> <p>While they were all treated immediately, fewer than 10% of these people were ultimately discharged from hospital.</p> <p>In addition to hearing the patients’ experiences, the researchers observed spikes in brain activity – specifically, in so-called gamma, delta, theta, alpha and beta waves.</p> <p>In some cases, these activity spikes were observed when CPR had been going on for up to an hour.</p> <p>“These recalled experiences and brain wave changes may be the first signs of the so-called near-death experience, and we have captured them for the first time in a large study,” says lead investigator Dr Sam Parnia, an intensive care physician and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at New York University Langone Health, US.</p> <p>“Our results offer evidence that while on the brink of death and in a coma, people undergo a unique inner conscious experience, including awareness without distress.”</p> <p>While plenty of people have personal accounts of near-death experiences before, they’re difficult to judge empirically.</p> <p>“These lucid experiences cannot be considered a trick of a disordered or dying brain, but rather a unique human experience that emerges on the brink of death,” says Parnia.</p> <p>It may be linked to disinhibition – the release of barriers in the brain as it shuts down.</p> <p>The researchers are keen to investigate the lucid dying experiences further.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/lucid-dying-cpr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Ellen Phiddian.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

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Young girl wants to be paramedic after saving own mum's life

<p dir="ltr">A nine-year-old girl has set her sights on becoming a paramedic after she performed lifesaving CPR on her mum with the help of an emergency dispatcher.</p> <p dir="ltr">When Charli Johnson’s mum, Sharon, fainted as a result of a viral infection while the pair were home alone in July, the young girl knew exactly what to do next.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I checked if she was awake and still breathing, and I went and called trip-0,” Charli said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I thought something was wrong so I knew what to do.”</p> <p dir="ltr">At the start of the call to the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS), emergency medical dispatcher Anne Barklimore can be heard asking for Charli’s suburb and name, to which she replied, “Helensvale, Charli”.</p> <p dir="ltr">During the call, Charli told Ms Barklimore that her mum had stopped breathing.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She just kneeled to the ground and she just fainted,” Charli said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Is she awake?” Ms Barklimore asked.</p> <p dir="ltr">“No, I don’t think so. I think she just stopped breathing,” Charli said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Barklimore then talked Charli through how to perform CPR, and the pair counted the pumps together.</p> <p dir="ltr">With Ms Barklimore’s guidance over the phone, Charli performed chest compressions on her mother for about 17 minutes.</p> <p dir="ltr">“One, two, three four - that’s the speed you’re going Charli. You’re doing a great job,” Ms Barklimore told Charli during the call.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You are doing such a good job Charli, and that you knew to call triple-0, I am so proud of you … and your mum is going to be so proud of you.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Johnson can then be heard crying after regaining consciousness.</p> <p dir="ltr">Charli said that Ms Barklimore’s instructions were helpful, but that performing CPR was still a challenge, especially on her mum.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was a bit scary, especially doing it on my mum,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Barklimore said she recognised Charli was young from the first moment she heard her voice and praised her for her calm composure.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She answered the questions calmly and directly - that’s so important,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I was proud. As a mother, I just thought, 'She's nine and she doesn't know what's happened to her mum'. </p> <p dir="ltr">"She held it together. So many older people don't have that composure — it was quite surprising.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She saved her mum’s life that day.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Gavin Nichols, one of the first paramedics to arrive on the scene, said it was unusual to see a young person performing CPR on their mum, and that seeing a child know to call triple-0 and provide information clearly and directly was an important lesson for other families.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You don’t know when you’re going to have your emergency,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"So it's really important to have your friends and family aware of what to do when that emergency happens."</p> <p dir="ltr">Charli was honoured for her bravery and composure by the QAS on Friday morning, receiving a teddy bear dressed in a paramedic uniform and an award.</p> <p dir="ltr">Her mum said she was “very proud” of her daughter, who says she now wants to be a paramedic so she can teach other kids how to do CPR.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I'm surprised Charli did what she did," Ms Johnson said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We'd gone over our address, my phone number — we hadn't actually done it for a while, but she's obviously retained it.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She's a bit of a ratbag at home, so she did surprise me."</p> <p dir="ltr">To hear the full recording of Charli’s call to triple-0, head <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-19/nine-year-old-girl-saves-mums-life-on-triple-0-call/101350536" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d0d848e6-7fff-bab6-64ab-9d5a98b1435d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

Caring

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Parents warned against "very dangerous" sour lollies

<p dir="ltr">Parents are being warned of the serious dangers of sour lollies which could burn the skin off children’s tongues.</p> <p dir="ltr">A Perth mother shared images of her son’s tongue to social media warning parents of the impact sour lollies could have. </p> <p dir="ltr">The post was also shared by CPR Kids, hoping it will spread awareness of sour lollies in general and the dangers it imposes to children.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Sour candy packaging often stipulates that children under 4 shouldn’t eat the sweets and that consuming multiple lollies quickly can cause ‘temporary irritation to sensitive tongues and mouths’,” their post reads.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Perth mum did not specify which lolly her son had eaten with CPR Kids saying popular sour lollies such as Warheads and TNT are widely available around the country.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We understand that the labels come with warnings, but dentists say the lollies should be avoided altogether due to the acidic coating (regardless of age),” their post continued.</p> <p dir="ltr">“CHOICE conducted lab tests on sour candy and the results are a little concerning - most sour lollies are more acidic than vinegar!”</p> <p dir="ltr">Dental Association of Australia’s Jonathon Teoh repeated the warning to parents, asking them to be wary of what their children consume. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Sour lollies can be very dangerous due to the high level of acid or PH which can cause chemical burns,” he said</p> <p dir="ltr">The research conducted by CHOICE showed that the burning of tongues from sour lollies was not a national issue, but worldwide. </p> <p dir="ltr">“A number of years ago the UK Food Standards Agency issued a warning to parents about a possible risk to children from particular sour novelty sweets after receiving reports of them causing blisters, burns and bleeding to the tongue and mouth,” they revealed. </p> <p dir="ltr">After reaching out to a Facebook community group, CHOICE received several reports from parents after their children consumed the products.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Within seconds my daughter started saying her tongue was stinging. As she went to touch it her skin just peeled away and she was left with a raw hole" mother Peggy said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Virtually straight after my daughter ate a couple of the lollies she told me her tongue felt funny. She showed me and to my horror about a 1–2mm deep layer of the surface of her tongue had come away. She had about a week or so of painful healing," Kylie, another parent said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"[My son] went for a sleepover and after having these he ended up with massive mouth ulcers and off to the dentist!" Bec said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"My daughter had bleeding of the tongue and at least a layer was removed," mother Jessi recalled.</p> <p dir="ltr">CHOICE questioned whether the lollies that cause blisters, burns and bleeding to the tongue and mouth are a step too far. </p> <p dir="ltr">They reiterated that just like any other lollies, they are not healthy.</p> <p dir="ltr">But in reference to TNT's Mega Sour Grenade, a sour lolly which has a warning label to flush the eyes with water if they come into contact, is a “cause for concern”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There's currently no general safety provision under Australian Consumer Law (ACL) that companies have to comply with, and we think one is needed.”</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

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"Blue and lifeless": Mum urges others to learn CPR after rescuing baby from ESKY

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> <p>Jacci Hutchinson has urged everyone she can to learn infant CPR after she rescued her best friends 8-month-old child from an esky.</p> <p>Jacci had been visiting her best friend Raewyn's house and all of their kids were playing together until Hutchinson realised that 8-month-old Bailey was missing.</p> <p>She realised there was an esky by the door and peered inside, only to find Bailey submerged in the water.</p> <p>"I thought it was a doll submerged in the water," Jacci tells<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.essentialbaby.com.au/baby/baby-health/mums-chilling-warning-after-saving-baby-from-drowning-in-an-esky-i-thought-it-was-a-doll-20210406-h1uyxm?utm_source=nine&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=homepage" target="_blank"><em>Essential Baby</em></a><em>.</em><span> </span>"I went into shock. I don't think my brain could actually believe what I was seeing."</p> <p>"I put my hand in and touched his leg and felt his cold, wet skin," she recalls. "That's when I finally snapped. I realised... he was real and he was there in the water."</p> <p>After realising that Bailey was in the water, Jacci sprang into action.</p> <p>"I pulled Bailey out. I held him downwards to try and clear his airways. And I screamed for help," she continues.</p> <p>"I laid him on the carpet and looked up for a second and saw my friend calling an ambulance. Panic set into the house."</p> <p>"After that, I don't remember anything else except his little face. He was blue and lifeless."</p> <p>Luckily, Hutchinson was fully trained in CPR and immediately sprang into action to rescue Bailey.</p> <p>"I performed CPR for what felt like forever, but was only a short amount of time before his colouring started to improve," she recalls.</p> <p>"That's when I rolled him over and rubbed him on his back, and he arched his back and let out a cry. I rolled him back over and his eyes started to open, but he was very disoriented and drowsy."</p> <p>"So I monitored him pretty closely, wrapped him in a blanket and it was at that moment, the ambulance arrived."</p> <p>Bailey was rushed to hospital after paramedics arrived and returned home a short time later to his devastated but relieved mother.</p> <p>"She (Raewyn) just kept hugging me and saying, 'I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here," Jacci recalled.</p> <p>Bailey is now 14 years old, but the incident is something everyone else remembers, despite it happening in 2007.</p> <p>It also <span>prompted Jacci to change career paths into infant aquatics and water safety.</span></p> <p>She has since completed her certificate IV in ambulance care and works as a swim instructor trying to raise awareness about CPR.</p> <p>"It is easy to learn, and having the confidence to respond and react in an emergency could make all the difference," Jacci explained.</p> <p>"I would encourage every single parent or caregiver to learn CPR.</p> <p>"Kids are drawn to water, and it only takes a very small amount.</p> <p>"I still get a chill every time I see an esky."</p> </div> </div> </div>

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