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Views And Reviews

Blood relations

BMJ 1994; 309 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.309.6950.347 (Published 30 July 1994) Cite this as: BMJ 1994;309:347
  1. R Orme

    At first we paid little attention to the man lying in the snow as we skied down to the bottom of the slope for lunch. Prostrate bodies are, after all, pretty much part of the normal Alpine landscape and the injuries are usually only marginally more painful than the resulting bill for transport off the slope and the x ray examination. It was only when we reached the bottom and turned to see three or four people gathering round his still motionless body that we realised something was wrong. We looked at each other with the lack of enthusiasm of people with minds on nodelsuppe and apple strudel. My friend, a general practitioner, said: “It looks as though he's out cold.”

    Suddenly, while we continued to hesitate, one of the figures next to him bent closer, and it was plain that he was attempting to perform cardiac massage. Quickly we released skis and clambered clumsily up to the group. I was dimly aware of a middle aged woman, beside herself with panic, and a small boy of about 9 or 10 just behind …

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