CPR in the Workplace

sstogner

Hey Folks,

We had an employee who unfortunately passed away last week while in the hospital. The aftermath found one of our executives asking the question, 'what if this employee had been at work and suffered a heart attack, should we have someone on staff that is CPR certified'?

Interesting question. I had an experience at a previous employer (Assisted Living) where a resident was found unresponsive, and not breathing. One of the program managers administered CPR (which you would expect in a HealthCare setting), but while waiting on EMTs to arrive, she ran out of steam and couldn't physically continue. That resident died, and regardless of EMT assistance, that would have probably happened anyway. My understanding, though, was that once you start CPR, you need to continue until EMTs arrive and it brought up some liability issues. Luckily the family didn't pursue this.

We're a management services company and wouldn't necessarily think of normally having a CPR certified individual on staff, but this recent death has opened up some questions.

Any thoughts?

sstogner
san antonio, tx

davids

We sponsor CPR training approximately twice each year. Our goal is to have at least two CPR-trained employees in each work unit.

ACU Frank

Additionally, become familiar with your state's "Good Samaritan" laws... Most states provide [I]some[/I] protection to people who are trying to help, but some states provide more protection than others.

Cheryl S SPHR

We leave it up to employees if they want to e CPR certified. I agree it is wise to become familiar with your state's good samaritan laws which may provide protection to those that attempt to save the life of another.

NaeNae55

We are owned by a hospital and so have our own AED. We require all employees to attend a class on operating it. We usually have a CPR class immediately after. We don't require employees to take it, but most do.