My second case of CPR was a witnessed arrest in a male subject about four miles in on a popular trail in Sabino Canyon near Tucson, AZ. CPR began immediately and was continued once our group arrived on scene. We sustained the effort for about forty-five minutes until the chopper arrived and took the victim to the ER. While we were giving CPR, trading off at about 5-10 minute intervals, pupils were equal and reactive, and we had good nail bed filling.

The ER physician concluded that the subject was dead the minute he hit the ground. Unfortunate, but it was excellent training for all who participated. Once CPR is started, basically you continue until death is pronounced or, I believe,death is patently obvious, like rigor mortis.

I really liked this story ... strangers coming to the rescue ...or rather newest aquaintences stepping up aid someone they just met ... and sticking with it too. two and half hours of CPR is exhausting ....even for 4 or more people ....and the EMT folks kept it up for another two! The pros don't always hang in there that long ....though people that really hypothermic have a perceived better chance of survival than others not chilled so much.
Still ....it is inspiring to read these stories ...

Without a shred of doubt.

I suspect that the four Navy rescue specialists who parachuted into the water to save that one year old on the sailboat were probably not her relatives. That would qualify as a fairly extreme act in my book....

We don't know for sure but they probably would have done the same for family.

Fair enough.

It could be argued, in a broader sense, that wilderness travellers in (especially winter travellers) form a loose community or fraternity by their very nature. When you are far from official help and cell phone service, there is (I think) an unwritten rule that you help out as best you can -- because someday the dice may fall, and you may very well need help yourself. That's a set of shared values you won't necessarily find at a city bus stop.

Another consideration that may be of interest to you south-of-the-49th-ers is that British Columbia has Good Samaritan laws, which protect private citizens who try to render aid from lawsuits. http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96172_01

Doug, very well said. Yes there are unwritten rules for wilderness adventures. In my decades of experience, I have never seen anyone shirk from offering help to those who needed it. History is replete of many stories, large and small of these examples.

Many jurisdictions south of the border have GS laws of roughly the same nature. Arizona's has been on the books for about fifty years, thankfully.

Living rural rather than urban may tend to foster providing aid. I have received significant help from Arizona ranchers and from Navajo folks (that's right, both cowboys and Indians). Luckily, I have also had the opportunity to return the favor....

Glad to hear it. My understanding was that it was a patchwork quilt down there, so you really had to CYA.

We have quite a strong Good Samaritan Law in Alaska. Besides lay people it also covers volunteer members of organized rescue teams and volunteer ski patrolers. See Alaska Good Samaritan Law

Ah yes the pink froth, talk about lowered expectations...!