Do you trust hoax.com or snopes?

this from Darla Bonham, Mended Heart's executive director, has issued a statement about cough CPR:

I've received email from people all across the country wanting to know if it is a valid medically approved procedure. I contacted a scientist on staff with the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiac Care division, and he was able to track a possible source of the information. The information comes from a professional textbook on emergency cardiac care. This procedure is also known as "cough CPR" and is used in emergency situations by professional staff. The American Heart Association does not recommend that the public use this method in a situation where there is no medical supervision.

Dr. Richard O. Cummins, Seattle's director of emergency cardiac care, explains that cough CPR raises the pressure in the chest just enough to maintain some circulation of oxygen-containing blood and help enough get to the brain to maintain consciousness for a prolonged period. But cough CPR should be used only by a person about to lose consciousness, an indication of cardiac arrest, he cautions. t can be dangerous for someone having a heart attack that does not result in cardiac arrest. Such a person should call for help and then sit quietly until help arrives, he says.

In other words, the procedure might be the right thing to attempt or it might be the very thing that would kill the afflicted depending on which sort of cardiac crisis is being experienced. Without a doctor there to judge the situation and, if cough CPR is indicated, to supervise the rhythmic coughing, the procedure is just far too risky for a layman to attempt.

Hope this clarifies the confusion

Self Cpr Snopes

Most of the time, they are very accurate. However, these websites are run by people and as a result can have mistakes in them.

I know with snopes, Barbara will explain her reasoning for why something is labeled a hoax or not. For example, the "cough cpr" at snopes.com is labeled false. But upon further reading, Barbara points out that it will work if the person has had the right training by a doctor (not reading an email) and if the person realizes the need at the critical time.

Anything that you receive in your inbox that offers medical advice should be read with care. One doctor may agree, while another may not.

Finally, I would suggest that snopes, and hoax are no more or less accurate than wedmd and msnbc.

Snopes is pretty accurate when they commit to an answer. I have never been on hoax.com. webmd and msnbc can be reliable sources, but you have to remember thet they get their ifno from somewhere else too - so it really depends on who they got their info. I have heard about the self cpr - also known as cough cpr - and i tend to agree that while it may have been successful in a few isolated incidents - that it's not a teachable skill (like a self heimlich is).

Cough Cpr

Self CPR? If you require CPR, you would be unconscious.

Snopes has always led me to the right answer.