In the movies you watch, if you see on the monitor that the doctor gives a shock when the heart rhythm of the patient turns into a straight line and brings the patient back to life, it can be said very clearly that that scene is not medically correct.
Because a heart electrocardiogram shows a straight line called asystole, a heart cannot be shocked. In other words, this rhythm is not a shockable rhythm. In this case, the thing to do is heart massage, and the medical treatment algorithm that should be given when the medical team arrives is special.
Cardiology and Cardiovascular Imaging Specialist from Memorial Bahçelievler Hospital. Özge Özden explains why some scenes in movies are not correct from a medical point of view:
“In a chaotic rhythm disorder called ventricular fibrillation in a patient’s heart, giving an electric shock is a life-saving intervention and this rhythm is shockable. However, if the heart monitor shows a straight line known as asystole, the heart does not respond to an electric shock, this is not a shockable rhythm and CPR is required.
Since Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) devices, which can be applied by people who do not have training on this subject, to a person with a stopped heart, will recognize the rhythm, it is a life-saving device to be used until the medical team arrives, and it is critical that its use becomes widespread.
But in some movies we see an electric shock being given to a straight electric shock, and that’s not actually a correct medical practice.
By the way, in some movies, we see that the shocked patient speaks quickly as soon as he returns to his normal rhythm and is even discharged quickly. We are unlikely to see anything like this in real life. In such patients, there is a special underlying cause that causes this situation, and this situation is detected and necessary treatments are performed, and then some precautions are taken. In fact, depending on the underlying cause, some patients may need to continue their life with pacemakers with a shocking feature called ICD (implantable cardiac defibrillator).
Another misconception in the television world is that life-saving interventions work for everyone. Unfortunately, this is not the case in real life. Not all patients who undergo CPR after cardiac arrest survive, and even if they survive, only some of them can be discharged. Moreover, even if the patient survives after CPR, fractures of the ribs may occur and brain damage may occur.
DR. ÖZDEN: “FILM MAKERS SHOULD GET MEDICAL SUPPORT”
I think it is very important that medical scenes in movies are shot by consulting experienced people. First of all, these movies, scenarios should not contain false information. Just as we do not prefer technically incorrect information about law, politics or art, of course, we do not prefer misinformation about health, which is very critical and large audiences watch and learn.”
Source: (BYZHA) – Beyaz News Agency
