CPR often takes the role of an impassioned social response to some unreasonably impossible situations and sometimes carried out when the situation is in any reasonable estimation, hopeless. It is sometimes obvious to the simplest of assessments that CPR would not be successful in resuscitating the individual. Short of decapitation unreasonable expectations are common. Sometimes rigor mortis is not recognized.
When the person is young, or the onset is particularly sudden in an otherwise healthy individual unrealistic expectations are more common. The same is true for persons of considerable notoriety.
Casual and judgmental observation by onlookers is all too often a fact of life
When the situation around a person in cardiac arrest is chaotic a rescuer cannot be faulted for doing CPR when the possibility of successful resuscitation would seem hopeless. It is common for resuscitation to be initiated or prolonged because of the situational milieu. This is particularly true when the person is young, or the incident arises abruptly as in severe injury. The notoriety of the individual befallen also influences the response.