POST-CPR TRAUMA IS REAL:

Nothing really prepares you for CPR, even if you’re certified. Compressions on a mannequin pale in comparison to pressing on the chest of a person who was walking and breathing moments ago, and suddenly stops. Real-life CPR is not light and glamorous like the movies may portray it. It’s exhausting and forceful, violent even — enough to break ribsopens in a new tab or window. The first time I did CPR, on a frail, elderly man who’d collapsed in the street, his chest gave way with a cracking sound that made me sick. Performing CPR is gut-wrenching and terrifying, and witnessing it is no better.

Dealing with human bodies that are in trouble is often messy and disgusting.