What are your feelings about when a senior citizen over 65 years old has a heart attack and the EMS medical tech. is not able revive them?

Yes scary. But there are many scary things. As hard as it is right now, try to live your life. Maybe call people you've wanted to call for a while. Watch a few old movies you like, listen to music that calms you, take a walk. Do things you enjoy, keep positive.

I'm younger than you. I have bad lungs. I've told my DH I want another 20 yrs, to see the kids fully grown up but if it's not to be, it's not to be. I've had a lot of fun, done some crazy stuff, I'm pretty happy. I'm doing yoga for exercise & relaxation, eating OK & minimising going out. That's within my control.

Good health wishes to you.

In other words... Don't think about it.

How long does it take someone whose heart has actually QUIT beating to suffer brain damage? Like 5 minutes? How often is someone transported to the hospital, only to be pronounced dead, with a ridiculous bill attached to a simple statement. I've seen 1st hand the great effort and time that EMT's put into trying to revive someone. AFTER they arrive at the patients home, spend 1/2 an hour or more trying to revive someone, THEN the time it takes driving to the hospital, THEN getting the patient in front of the Dr., chances of surviving without brain damage is very, very slim, if they even end up being revived at all.

Wasn’t nearly the exact same thread made by the same OP already posted and addressed yesterday under the Discussions heading?

https://www.agingcare.com/discussions/as-of-april-2nd-today-ems-medical-teams-unable-revive-a-patient-with-a-heart-attack-on-the-call-they-457741.htm

This is a lot less unreasonable than you might think.

I worked for an EMS Agency as a database analyst (I'm absolutely not a EMS expert), so you'd think I would know these numbers, but I was doing something else, so I'll be honest and say that I only "know" this stuff in a general sense.

I, suspect, in most of the cases they are talking about, the survival rate is actually pretty low. I believe it's only around 10 to 15 percent of people who leave a hospital after cardiac arrest (heart stops) Probably even in some of those cases they do so with broken ribs, are pretty beat up, may need hospitalization and never really recover full functioning.

I couldn't find the exact guidelines, but it read like they would try, and if they couldn't, then they move on. It's not unreasonable in their situation.

Hospitalization creates a second problem: exposure for the patient to Covid-19. Meaning they could get sick with a broken heart, which means those survival numbers are going to be even lower. The sub problem to this is the risk to the EMT's / Paramedics. I suspect they've been decimated in New York.

I was part of a different side, response times, and I can tell you that there was a lot of discussion about the rapid response you read about it. There have been studies that show that instead of rushing to a call, more lives could be saved by going slower.

A few other things to keep in mind. We see survivors, almost always heart attacks, so we think people are always saved when they aren't. There's survivor bias. Second, media typically shows the heroic saves. Third, there's a lot of money in EMS and it perverts some of the incumbents in ways you might not expect. I won't go into that but racing to an incident is important to some agencies in ways you might not think about at first glance. Ways that aren't crucial to saving lives because the vast majority of EMS responses don't need a rapid response, and even when there is a rapid response, like in this case, it doesn't make that much of a difference. Choking, Strokes, on the other hand...

Anyways, take this for what it's worth from someone who was in the field, on the sidelines, very briefly.

I do not like it.
doctors have bragged for decades about their training conditioning them to handle a situation just like this. So if they are trained why are they saying they can't handle the work load.
A heart attack needs attention right now. A life could be saved.
From what I have heard , a patient with codiv-19 care is not as immediate as a heart attack.
I just heard that no illness is to be taken into the ER. Leave them at home and let nature takes its course.
That is the same thing that hospice says. That is let them die.

Wishing you good health and long life

joel - I read in one of your other threads that your wife has Lewy body dementia and is in assisted living, and you haven't seen her since the isolation order. You are also not on good terms with your son. I am guessing you must be feeling lonely and afraid. If you were to have a heart attack, you may die alone. That is scary and sad. But what is the chance of you having a heart attack?

According to my quick internet research, in your age group, 65-74, out of 10,000 people, 66 will have heart attacks, that is 0.66%, a very small chance. I know you mention you have a weak heart, so let's not get all worked up, it's bad for you. You should focus on other positive things. Don't know what else is going on in your life, but you shouldn't focus on worrying about having a heart attack. You don't want that to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.