Avengers – The Initiative #3: A Medical Review

July 10th, 2007

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

Avengers: The Initiative #3 “Bug Hunt”
Dan Slott, writer
Stefano Caselli, penciler

scene from Initiative #3

It’s nice to see that the Initiative is taking the time to teach its recruits some basic lifesaving skills. Your know what would be even nicer? If they taught CPR correctly.

♥  Komodo has her hands in the right place to give chest compressions, but her arms should be straight, not bent. It’s hard to get the proper amount of force for chest compressions with bent elbows. I know that’s how they show it on TV, but that doesn’t make it right (remember, they’re often giving chest compressions to a live actor, so they don’t want to push too hard — broken ribs with CPR is common.)

I suppose it could be argued that Komodo’s strength is such that she has to have her arms bent or she’ll give compressions that are too powerful — but that seems like quite a stretch because it would mean that she has no control over her strength.

♥  Since 2005, the current CPR instructions call for 30 compression to 2 breaths; 15 to 2 was the old method.

It’s nice to see Hellcat again too, but it’s hard for me to understand why someone who has successfully faced down the hordes of Hell would cave to government registration.

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11 Responses to “ Avengers – The Initiative #3: A Medical Review ”

  1. Zach
    July 11th, 2007 at 1:49 am

    She-Hulk convinced Patsy of the logic of registration, no caving required.

  2. Roy
    July 11th, 2007 at 6:48 am

    It says in the panel you posted that Komodo DID use super-strength in her previous try. So it looks like you answered your own question.
    And, by your account, what Hellcat is teaching is just two years out of date. So she needs a quick refresher course, big deal.
    And since, I’m assuming, CPR actually saved lives upto and before 2005, it’s not like Hellcat is really teaching Komodo a bad thing, is it?
    That really was a strange nit to pick when you think about it.

  3. Arkonbey
    July 11th, 2007 at 8:08 am

    Funny that they showed Komodo’s arms bent. The only reason they do it on tv and movies is so that they don’t injure the ‘patient’ and that won’t likely happen with drawn characters. I think I saw realistic, straight-arm CPR done on Scrubs in the first season (it actually startled me). I’m not sure, because they do the ‘arms bent’ method now.

    Roy is right about leaving Hellcat alone for not knowing the new method. I was CPR certified years ago and didn’t know about the new rules until talking to a paramedic friend this spring!

  4. Petri
    July 11th, 2007 at 8:43 am

    They changed that CPR line-up just after I got re-certified. It kind of threw me off because I’m now certified for the wrong way. Should I follow my training or adapt my training to the new method. Not sure how that works legally speaking. Also, someone told me at their latest CPR course that they tell you not to give breaths anymore without a face mask. Is that the truth?

  5. David Oakes
    July 11th, 2007 at 10:16 am

    Hellcat was also “recently” (Marvel time) rescued from the clutch of Hell after being killed by her husband, Damian Hellstrom. So my guess is her certification is a little out of date as well…

  6. MSJ
    July 11th, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    I think someone should update Komodo’s Wikipedia page. It made no mention of her super strength. I also find it interesting that Komodo could be the first superhero that I know off that could be Malay (or at least South-East Asian Aboriginal).

  7. Keith
    July 12th, 2007 at 7:24 am

    A more pressing question: Where exactly does Komodo’s tail attach? Her anatomy back there must be one for Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

  8. M
    July 12th, 2007 at 10:15 pm

    If she has superstrength, then she doesn’t _need_ to keep her arms straight does she? Except for the sake of beind a good role model. And bending them could make it easier for someone with super human strength not to press too hard.

  9. MSJ
    July 13th, 2007 at 10:22 am

    Ooops, my bad. They did say it on Wikipedia, but in the sidebar, not the main article.

    I agree that bending her arms allow Melati to control her strength. She CAN control her strength; the arm-bending is one of the methods for this, not because she can’t control it.

  10. Zach
    July 14th, 2007 at 5:27 pm

    It’s a perfectly valid nit to pick. If the government is gonna train an entire generation of heroes, they should be as up to date on such things as possible.

  11. Medical » Medical July 11, 2007 12:51 am
    September 29th, 2007 at 7:24 pm

    [...] Avengers – The Initiative #3: A Medical Review It?s nice to see that the Initiative is taking the time to teach its recruits some basic lifesaving skills. Your know what would be even nicer? If they taught CPR correctly. ? Komodo has her hands in the right place to give chest … [...]

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