Oddly enough, even though I’ve been a (psychiatric) nurse for twenty five years, I’ve never had to perform CPR at work. Just once outside work, and to be honest, I found it incredibly traumatic. It was at a gig in a coastal resort, the band I played in at the time had got about two or three numbers into our set, when all of a sudden, the guy at the sound desk cut the power to the stage and asked ‘are there any medics in the building?’ – nobody answered. He then repeated the question, and I realised I would have to step up. I could see a crowd of people surrounding a bloke on the floor, so ran straight over. The bloke looked as though he’d died before he hit the floor, to be honest, but I still attempted CPR (initially, there was some guy ‘helping me’, but as was attempting compressions on the blokes stomach, at the same time I was attempting to breath for him, I thought it best to carry on alone). The paramedics arrived fairly quickly, and were brilliant, but it was all too late and the bloke didnt make it. Would I do it again? Yes, I think I would, but I wouldnt relish it.
