Comments on: Storm, CPR, and the Precordial Thump

By: TayJK

TayJK — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:49:38 +0000

Yeah, six, after the Chancellor got shot. He played with his gizmos, realized that he was going into come kind of arrest, then thumped him. Not sure if any CPR was used…

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:47:50 +0000

I swear I saw “Bones” McCoy do it to a Kingon in one of the Star Trek movies.. (VI?). I don’t think he did it right either.

By: J

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:49:20 +0000

It would be nice to read more of your very interesting med stories; the “True Tales of Medical School” section is rather lonesome for lack of updates : (

By: Marge

Marge — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:24:32 +0000

My mum recounts a story from the Dark Ages of medicine, when defibrilators where the size of small cars. Patient kept going into Vfib, but was a long way from surgery – so they ended up wheeling them through the corridors of the hospital, past patients and visitors, with my mum thwacking him on the chest every few minutes every time he went into VFib. So she’s done it dozens of times :)

By: Drafterman

Drafterman — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:28:14 +0000

Maybe I’ve been out of the comic seen too long. When did Storm become orange? Why are we not addressing this House-style medical mystery?

By: Sean Duggan

Sean Duggan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:32:41 +0000

I guess that, in some ways, the precordial thump just resonates with people. Unlike things like CPR which require extensive training and following strict procedures, the thump seems like a primal expression of “Live, goddamit!” where we personally storm the gates of death through our sheer desire to save the victim. And it fits with our mental picture. When you hit someone, they bolt upright and gasp. Chest compressions just don’t conjure up the right image.

By: theOriginalKeith

theOriginalKeith — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:24:24 +0000

If you’re going to bring up Scrubs, you can’t ignore The Todd’s “Miracle Five”…

By: arkonbey

arkonbey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:10:05 +0000

don’t be offended, but when reading your anecdote, all I could think of was the dream sequence in [Scrubs] where JD imagines that he is Fonzie waking a comatose patient with the lesser known Jukebox Thump.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:06:36 +0000

One of the medicine chiefs the year ahead of me in residency was legendary for this. The story went that he was just passing through the ICU one day when he passed a guy just at the moment he went into VFib. He apparently hauled off and thumped him with a big overhand punch and stopped the rhythm.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:33:19 +0000

The Percordial Thump is a wonderful name for a medical procedure. It’s just a shame that the the artist didn’t grace the scene with the appropriate sound-effect.