Former Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum should stick to politics instead of telling students how to treat gunshot victims.
On Sunday, Santorum viciously attacked the millions of students who participated in the worldwide March For Our Lives protest against gun violence by telling them to learn CPR instead.
“How about kids, instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations where there is a violent shooter,” Santorum said on CNN.
And that’s when real health professionals from around the country weighed in, and they showed no mercy to Santorum as they schooled him on Twitter about how CPR is useless when a gunshot victim is bleeding out.
As a surgeon, I’ve operated on gunshot victims who’ve had bullets tear through their intestines, cut through their spinal cord, and pulverize their kidneys and liver. Rick Santorum telling kids to shut up and take CPR classes is simply unconscionable.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 25, 2018
time to be treated by Trauma surgeons (and come out alive). Trust me, I know. I started med school as a teen & never forgot my first GSW. CPR DID NOT SAVE HIM NOR COULD WE, bc there is really nothing to be done when you receive a bullet in the heart. He was 17yo. #Docs4GunSense
— Allison Urquidi MD (@DocUrks) March 26, 2018
Having operated on multiple GSW’s to the chest during the Parkland Massacre…
Duct tape for the hole in the heart or one in the Lung would have worked better than CPR.
Should students carrry that around also? @meganranney #NeverAgainMSD pic.twitter.com/jWQolNmnuJ— Dr. Mike Zahalsky (@MikeZahalsky) March 25, 2018
Here are some stats made simple for Rick Santorum:
Survival rate of pulseless trauma victims who get CPR at the scene: VERY, VERY LOW
Survival rate of people who don’t get shot in the first place: MUCH, MUCH BETTER— Rebecca Bell, MD (@RebeccaBellMD) March 25, 2018
CPR is ineffective in hemorrhagic shock @RickSantorum. Trust me, we are Trauma Surgeons @tzakrison @BHWilliamsMD @benzarzaur – do you know what prevents bleeding? common sense gun legislation #StopTheKilling #EndGunViolence #SurgeonsForSocialResponsibility #Docs4GunSense https://t.co/HnJrk9GF45
— Carrie Sims (@carriesims20) March 25, 2018
Rick Santorum next: Rather than trying to disarm North Korea, let us just all learn CPR
— Armand Krikorian, MD (@ENDOUNO) March 25, 2018
#Docs4GunSense know that:
1. Kids can learn 2 things at once.
2. But prevention of a gunshot wound is bettee than treatment
3. And by the time you get you CPR, the patient is dead https://t.co/6FmAghh9Bi— Megan Ranney MD MPH (@meganranney) March 25, 2018
When someone has been shot in the chest and you start compressions, the blood may spray out the bullet wounds back at you. @thosewecarry #docs4gunsense https://t.co/i8lpY9qvUr
— Jordan B. (@Jordanschmordan) March 25, 2018
I say this with a certain amount of authority having spent most of my professional life as a pediatric intensivist and have cared for children injured by gunshots, many of whom never made it home. #Docs4GunSense
— Alice Ackerman, MD, (@CloseToHomeMD) March 26, 2018
Yeah, Santorum would have been better off keeping his mouth shut.
CPR is a worthy skill to learn, but it won’t help someone who has been shot in the chest or head or any other vital area of the body. Plus, stopping to perform CPR on someone who has been shot during a shooting only puts the person who stopped in danger of being shot as well.
Instead of consulting the NRA for distracting rhetoric, Santorum should consult doctors before going on television to embarrass himself.
Featured Image: Wikimedia
