No, you don’t just wake up from a coma! Doctors reveal the most unrealistic moments in movies
In movies everything is possible. Defibrillators bring people back to life, someone’s heart stops beating, and the doctor just shouts “Clear!” and shocks the patient, and they’re miraculously saved! Unfortunately, that’s not actually how it works in real life. A defibrillator wouldn’t be able to save that person. But that is not the only movie-thing that has nothing to do with reality.
1. CPR always saves people, and usually very quickly
On TV, the survival rate after CPR is about 70%, but this is lower in reality. And the characters often wake up and start talking after just a few chest compressions, which is very rare in real life. The right way to perform CPR is to do 30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths until the ambulance arrives. It’s also important to make sure you’re doing 100 to 120 compressions per minute.
2. A defibrillator can bring anyone back to life
In movies, a defibrillator is often used to revive a person who has no heartbeat at all, which is wrong. A defibrillator doesn’t start electric activity in the heart. It actually stops the electric activity. For a defibrillator to work, there needs to be some electric activity in the heart. It is effective when the heartbeat is irregular and it needs to be returned to its normal rhythm.
3. Patients immediately recover from a coma
When people wake up from a coma, they need time to recover. For some, it can even take years of physiotherapy to see improvements. And on TV, characters who’ve been in a coma recover pretty quickly.
4. Nurses aren’t given enough credit.
We’re used to seeing physicians as the main characters on TV shows. They constantly check up on their patients and basically do all the “important” work at the hospital. Nurses, in contrast, are usually in the background. They are often portrayed as non-essential. However, in reality, nurses provide critical medical care. And they are the ones who interact with patients the most.
5. Seizures should be handled the exact opposite way.
When someone’s having a seizure, TV doctors usually hold the patient down and put something in their mouth, because this is supposed to prevent them from swallowing their tongue.
In reality, they shouldn’t do any of those things. It’s impossible for a person having a seizure to swallow their tongue, and putting an object in their mouth might break their teeth. Doctors also shouldn`t restrain their movements. What they can and should do is turn the patient gently on one side to help them breathe easier, and put something soft under their head.