6. CPR Is Actually Painful And Doesn't Usually Work
Okay, so remember that thing you just read about how CPR tends to be a better option than pulling out the heart paddles? Yeah, well, there's still some bad news on that front. There's a reason the most affecting scenes of CPR on television end with the person dying anyways. Because, unfortunately, that's how it usually happens in real life. Your garden variety medical dramas seem to favor more positive outcomes, though, presenting cardiopulmonary resuscitation as a simple, triumphant ordeal. Which is a tad misleading, to put it mildly. As it turns out, the pressure and persistence required to basically resurrect somebody from the dead using chest compressions can often lead to cracked ribs, among some more gruesome internal injuries. And there's a slim chance it will even work. In fact, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, three relatively recent dramas (ER, Chicago Hope, and Rescue 911) had an on-screen resuscitation success rate of 75 percent. In studies about reality, however, the success rate of CPR performed on people who suffered cardiac arrest was between 2 to 15 percent, depending on the exact circumstances. That's not to say you shouldn't learn CPR. But you should also understand that there may be more bone-cracking and eventual death involved than you bargained for.
