Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR [Paperback]

Stefan Timmermans (Author), Bern Shen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566397162 | ISBN-13: 978-1566397162 | Publication Date: July 19, 1999 | Edition: 1

"Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR" is for anyone who has taken a CPR course or who believes the images from television dramas. It is also for families of victims and survivors of CPR. It will engage emergency personnel, others in the medical field, and anyone concerned with ethical issues of death and dying. Anyone who has ever taken a CPR course has wondered, 'What would happen if I actually had to use CPR?' In Western societies, the life-saving power of resuscitation has the status of a revered cultural myth. It promises life in the face of sudden death, but the reality is that lives are rarely saved. Medical researchers estimate the survival rate for out-of-hospital CPR to be between 1 and 3 percent. "Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR" explores the history of this medical innovation and the promotion of its effectiveness.The overuse of resuscitation, Timmermans explains, defines people's experience with sudden death, something he learned first-hand by following the practice of life-saving from street corner to emergency room. He argues that very few people are successfully resuscitated without brain damage despite the promotion of CPR's effectiveness through powerful media images. In vivid accounts of the day-to-day practices of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in one of the only studies of sudden death, Timmermans records the astonishingly frank comments of emergency personnel.Doctors, nurses, social workers, and paramedics express emotions from cynicism about going through the futile motions to genuine concern for victims' family members. If a person who was supposed to keep on living dies at the end of a resuscitative attempt, how socially meaningful is the dying? Timmermans asks tough questions and addresses the controversial ethical issues about the appropriateness of interfering with life and death. He suggests policy reforms and the restoration of dignity to sudden death. Stefan Timmermans is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University and is widely published on the topic of health care.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Out of his immersion in the sequestered inner world of the hospital emergency departments where sudden death and resuscitative efforts generally take place, Timmermans arrives at illuminating philosophical and sociological insights into how we all are, and ought to be, implicated in these processes, and admirable suggestions about how we can help to make them more dignified, consoling, and meaningful." --Renee C. Fox, Annenberg Professor Emerita of the Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania "This deeply disturbing book documents the failure of modern society to deal with sudden death. Timmermans combines ethnographic observations in various Emergency Rooms with a detailed history of the emergence of CPR to debunk the myth that CPR is successful. Timmermans is a wise and humane guide through the tricky ethical issues surrounding sudden death. He argues for a new ethical code to restore dignity and choice to the dying process. This important and insightful book deserves to become a classic in medical sociology." --Trevor Pinch, Cornell University "A compassionate, meticulous portrayal of sudden death. Heroics are entirely banished in this first-ever ethnography of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, and the record is set straight through a skillful, eye-opening account of the routines and practices of emergency medicine... [T]his is an indispensable read for social scientists and historians of technology and medicine, and also for specialists in emergency medicine and health-care professionals involved with death and dying." --Margaret Lock, author of the award-winning Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America

About the Author

Stefan Timmermans is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University and is widely published on the topic of health care. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press; 1 edition (July 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566397162
• ISBN-13: 978-1566397162
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Candid Appraisal of CPR in America, February 3, 2000

By 

David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR (Paperback)

Of the roughly 400,000 "sudden deaths" in the United States each year, only about 1-3% of those undergoing CPR outside the hospital survive. This low figure of survival is accompanied by a high price tag, both economically and emotionally. Timmermans takes a candid look at CPR, exposing its myths and problematic areas, and I found his book historically well researched and balanced. I do have some reservations about some of the misleading statements he makes in chapter 5, especially his mistake of treating 'social inequality' as a synonym for 'unjust', accompanied by the false implication that social value affects survival during a hospital resuscitation effort. On the whole, however, he does a fine job and his extensive historical research and interviews with health care workers make this a fine book. It serves as an excellent antidote to the overly optimistic expectations generated by TV shows and CPR training courses.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved the book., January 18, 2001

By 

Liz Lewenstein (Malden, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR (Paperback)

I loved this book. It is on a painful topic but it answered some nagging questions for me. My mother died unexpectedly and I never forgave my father for not staying with her during her last moments and always wondered why CPR did not keep her alive. This book provided some answers. It is informative and compassionate.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good, but confusing book., May 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR (Paperback)

This book has many strong points-the history of resuscitation is an excellent resource in this book. However, I must point out that the author's stances later in the book is slightly confusing- it is hard to see which side the author is "on"- is he Pro-CPR, Pro-CPR only during some situations, or Don't-Do-CPR at all? The concluding statement he makes still confuses me, as he implies that CPR should be done on particular patients...but how would you decide? This statement makes me believe that instead of improving CPR or its adjunts, it is better to decide who lives or dies before a person dies... His three stories on resuscitation events are quite unfair- showing that all of them "failed"; it does strengthen his view, but the familes were all "willing" to accept the patient's deaths- what if the familes were in anger or denial? What is CPR was not done at all- would the familes react differently, as they helplessly stood by? Also, some comments about Paramedics or Nurses seem to critise them, dispite their hard, yet necessary, job. Nevertheless, this book brings a good perspective to CPR and its "myth". Strongly written, it does its best to answer questions about resuscitation and its true face. I will still do CPR if I had to, dispite the book's stance, but I am now more aware and understanding of the probable outcome that is likely to result with my efforts.