ORIGINAL: FalconWings
I know CPR, but I would make the wife sign a disclaimer first no questions asked. A lot of people try to help in good faith and are bitten in the ***** with a suit later. She can sign it on my shirt or the wing of my airplane FWIW.
When things go wrong you never know how people are going to react. You guys did the right thing though, it's hard to just let someone go without help.
David
Fortunately, here in the UK there's no case law (that I'm aware of anyway) showing that anybody performing a first aid act in the spirit of being a good samaritan has been prosecuted either in Civil or Criminal law...and long may that be the case!
Time is of the essence in performing CPR if the chances of recovery are to be maximised...as Drdoom said, the stats show about a 6% success rate - this is significantly reduced if CPR is delayed. Automatic External Defibrillators may not be cheap but they are easy to use (even by those with minimal training) and can increase the chance of survival quite significantly.
The Chairman of the club I belong to (Swindon Model Aero Club) got me to do an hour's session on basic CPR and control of bleeds at a Club Night last year. Seemed to go down quite well and I think (hope) the intention is to repeat it again this year. Fortunately, no-one's had to do CPR for real at the field (hope we never do). The Club has a 'procedure in the event of emergency' check-list placed in the site first aid kit too...and we're not allowed to fly when alone.
Cheers,
Dick
England