from Ocala.com Feb 22, 2019

When we watch movies and TV, we suspend belief that people can’t actually fly, zombies aren’t real and animals can’t talk.

So when CPR and other heroic measures to revive an unconscious victim pop up on the screen, should we react the same way?

“Movies very rarely get it right,” said Dr. Howie Mell, an emergency room physician in suburban Chicago who has also been a firefighter and paramedic. “They need to create drama and tell a story in a succinct and cohesive manner. That doesn’t always lend itself to an accurate portrayal.“

Many health professionals wish that were different. Several studies in recent years have compared on-screen cardiac crises to reality and lamented the results.

“In movies, defibrillation and cardiac arrest survival outcomes are often portrayed inaccurately, representing missed opportunities for public health education,” concluded a 2014 study in the journal Resuscitation.

A 2017 analysis of three popular American and British TV shows in Postgraduate Medical Journal drew similar conclusions, declaring, “Given the popularity of television medical dramas, the poor depiction may be significantly contributing to poor public CPR knowledge.“

Read the rest of the article here: https://www.ocala.com/lifestyle/20190222/on-screen-cpr-heart-stopping-drama-doesnt-always-reflect-reality