How to perform Chest or Heart Compressions
on a collapsed dog
This incident occurred on
3/16/08.
I let Jack out and he played
crazy for a couple of minutes with the younger dogs and then
collapsed. I ran to him, dropped to my knees and scooped him up. He
was dazed and moving very little. I couldn't get up because of my bad
knees. Jack was limp by now.
Al was right behind me so I handed Jack to him with one arm under his
belly and the other arm under his chest. I did this so when he lifted
him he had Jack's heart in the crook of his arm.
As we ran to the house, Jack's gums & tongue went totally blue. We
thought we lost him. All the time, I was screaming, "Stay with me
Jack!
By the time we got to the top
of the stairs, Jack started to kick.
Al laid him on the couch and I continued to stimulate him by rubbing his
chest and face briskly and constantly talking to him. His gums were
white then and slowly went to pink. I called the heart specialist and
was told to immediately give him an increase of his heart meds.
Jack then began a very excited period of activity because his adrenalin
was pumped so high. His body did it to bring him back to life. He
drank a lot of water and ran around like nothing had happened. I put
the holter on him right after we decided he was stabilized.
After about an hour, he was so tired his eyelids bagged. He slept for 6
hours straight with us constantly checking on him. This was due to
his body recovering. His medication is now changed and so far
it's working. Today he is his usual self, barking at the others and
playing with his squeaky ball. He'll see the cardiologist tomorrow.
What saved Jack's life was the chest compressions Al gave him by
carrying him in that manner. Because Jack's heart was in the crook of
his arm, every time Al took a step it compressed Jack's heart. Going up
the stairs probably jarred Jack which added more heart stimulation.
I am so glad I was home and that we were watching him. I am so
thankful that I learned this technique years ago and knew what to do.
You should all become familiar with how to do this. It could save your
dog's life one day. It can't work in every situation, but I am glad it
worked for Jack!
Shown above is
the way to carry your dog to perform chest compressions. This must
be done as fast as possible after they collapse. When the dog is
collapsed, he will hang and be totally limp, so his chest will fall deep
into your elbow.
Jack is fighting
me on this demonstration because he is not collapsed. Do not
attempt this procedure if the dog is awake and alert.
Jack is shown
above on 3/23/08 doing fine!
It's easier to
demonstrate without all of the extra help!
I am getting
too old to lift these boxers anymore!
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Vera Kollar
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Bavaria's Boxers
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