SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING A RESCUER IN RESUSCITATION
A device, method and system are disclosed for assisting a rescuer attempting to resuscitate a patient in need of resuscitation. A CPR assist device is provided that includes a first indication of a first surface of the CPR assist device to place in contact with a patient. The CPR assist device further includes a second indication of a second surface of the CPR assist device to place in contact with a patient. In one embodiment, the CPR assist device is adapted to provide indicia to a rescuer that provide instructions to assist the rescuer to resuscitate the patient. In another embodiment, the CPR assist device is adapted to initiate or adjust instructions and/or therapy based on whether the first surface or the second surface of the CPR assist device is placed in contact with the chest region of a patient in need of resuscitation.
1 . A method of assisting a rescuer to resuscitate patients, comprising:
providing a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) puck to the rescuer, wherein at least one portion of the CPR puck is sized and shaped to be disposed upon a chest region of a patient and includes at least a first surface and a second surface, the CPR puck further including:
a first indication that the first surface of the CPR puck is to be disposed upon the chest region of the patient; and
a second indication that the second surface of the CPR puck is to be disposed upon the chest region of the patient; and
providing instructions to the rescuer for resuscitating the patient that are based at least in part on whether the first surface or the second surface is disposed upon the chest region of the patient.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing instructions includes providing indicia on at least one of the first surface and the second surface.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the CPR puck includes providing the first indication in a first language if the first surface of the CPR puck is disposed upon the chest region of the patient and providing the second indication in a second language if the second surface of the CPR puck is disposed upon the chest region of the patient; and
wherein providing instructions includes providing instructions in the first language if the first surface of the CPR puck is disposed upon the chest region of the patient and providing instructions in the second language if the second surface of the CPR puck is disposed upon the chest region of the patient.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the CPR puck includes providing the first indication that indicates to the rescuer that the CPR puck is intended for resuscitating a first group of patients when the first surface of the CPR puck is disposed upon the chest region of the patient and the second indication that indicates to the rescuer that the CPR puck is intended for resuscitating a second group of patients when the second surface of the CPR puck is disposed upon the chest region of the patient.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein providing the CPR puck includes providing the CPR puck wherein the second surface of the CPR puck is adapted to generally conform to the chest region of a first group of patients, and wherein the first surface of the CPR puck is adapted to conform to the chest region of a second group of patients.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein a difference between the first group of patients and the second group of patients is selected from the set including: a difference in age, a difference in size, a difference in sex or any combination thereof; and
wherein providing the CPR puck includes providing the CPR puck such that differences between the first surface and the second surface correspond to the difference between the first group of patients and the second group of patients.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically recognizing whether the first surface of the CPR puck or the second surface of the CPR puck is oriented to be facing the chest region of the patient; and
wherein providing instructions is performed responsive to automatically recognizing whether the first surface of the CPR puck or the second surface of the CPR puck is oriented to be facing the chest region of the patient.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of automatically recognizing whether the first surface of the CPR puck or the second surface of the CPR puck is oriented to be facing the chest region of the patient includes use of an accelerometer.
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of automatically recognizing whether the first surface of the CPR puck or the second surface of the CPR puck is oriented to be facing the chest region of the patient includes use of a weighted switch to determine the directions of up and down with respect to the CPR puck.
10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of automatically recognizing whether the first surface of the CPR puck or the second surface of the CPR puck is oriented to be facing the chest region of the patient includes use of a conductive fluid in a capsule to determine the directions of up and down with respect to the CPR puck, by having the conductive fluid touch electrical contacts based on the orientation of the puck.
11 . A method of a rescuer resuscitating a patient using a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) assist device, comprising:
determining, based on at least a first indication on a first surface of the CPR assist device and at least a second indication on a second surface of the CPR assist device, which one of the first surface and the second surface to place in contact with the patient;
placing the one of the first surface or the second surface of the CPR assist device in contact with a chest region of the patient; and
receiving instructions to resuscitate the patient, wherein the instructions are at least in part based on the one of the first surface or the second surface placed in contact with the chest region of the patient.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving instructions includes receiving instructions selected from the set including: hand/finger placement, number of hands/fingers, chest compression rate, chest compression depth, rate of application of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, strength of application of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, instructions related to the use of electrical therapy, instructions related to the use of drug delivery therapy or any combination thereof.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving instructions includes receiving instructions selected from the set of: receiving audio instructions, receiving visual instructions or any combination thereof.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one first indication indicates to a rescuer that the CPR assist device is intended for resuscitating a first group of patients and the at least one second indication indicates to a rescuer that the CPR assist device is intended for resuscitating a second group of patients; and
wherein determining which of the first surface and second surface of the CPR assist device to place in contact with the patient includes determining based on whether the patient is one of the first group of patients or the second group of patients.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein resuscitating includes at least one action selected from the set including: performing CarioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), manually initiating or adjusting electrical cardiac therapy, automatically initiating or adjusting electrical cardiac therapy, performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, manually delivering drugs, automatically delivering drugs or any combination thereof.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein determining which of the first surface and the second surface of the CPR assist device is in contact with the patient is performed automatically without intervention of an operator.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein a recognizer device is used to determine whether a first or second surface of the CPR assist device is in contact with the patient.
18 . A resuscitation assistance device, comprising:
an object sized and shaped to be disposed upon a chest region of a patient, the object having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the object includes:
a first indication that the first surface of the object is to be placed in contact with the patient;
a second indication that the second surface of the object is to be placed in contact with the patient; and
indicia conveying instructions disposed upon the object to indicate use of the object when attempting to resuscitate the patient based upon observation of the first indication and the second indication.
19 . The device of claim 18 , further comprising means for automatically recognizing whether the first surface or the second surface is in contact with the patient.
20 . The device of claim 19 , further comprising means for automatically delivering instructions based on the means for automatically recognizing.
21 . The device of claim 20 , wherein the instructions include at least one action selected from the set including: hand/finger placement, number of hands/fingers, chest compression rate, chest compression depth, rate of application of mouth-to-mouth, strength of application of mouth-to-mouth, instructions related to the use of electrical therapy, instructions related to the use of drug delivery therapy or any combination thereof.
22 . The device of claim 20 , wherein the first indication indicates that the device will communicate in a first language and the second indication indicates that the device will communicate in a second language; and
wherein the means for automatically delivering instructions is adapted to communicate in the first language if the first surface is placed in contact with the patient to communicate in the second language if the second surface is placed in contact with the patient.
23 . The device of claim 18 , wherein at least one portion of the first surface is adapted to conform to a chest region of a first group of patients and at least one portion of the second surface is adapted to conform to a chest region of a second group of patients; and
wherein the first indication and the second indication indicate which of the first surface or the second surface is to be placed in contact with the patient based on whether the patient is in the first group of patients or the second group of patients.
24 . The device of claim 18 , wherein the object is communicatively coupled to one or more external devices, the external device being adapted assist a rescuer to attempt resuscitating a patient.
25 . The device of claim 24 , wherein the one or more external devices is selected from the set including: a computing device, a therapy initiation or adjustment device, a defibrillation device, a pacing device, a drug delivery therapy device, a communications device, a monitor device, a display device, a user interface, a microphone or any combination thereof.
26 . The device of claim 24 , wherein the at least one of the object and the at least one external device is adapted to initiate or adjust resuscitation therapy or instructions based on whether the first surface or the second surface is placed in contact with the patient.