Resuscitation Essay

In a pre-hospital setting, there are few moments that are as intense as the events that take place when trying to save a life. Family presence during these resuscitation efforts has become an important and controversial issue in health care settings. Family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a relatively new issue in healthcare. Before the advent of modern medicine, family members were often present at the deathbed of their loved ones. A dying person’s last moments were most often controlled by his or her family in the home rather than by medical personnel (Trueman, History of Medicine). Today, families are demanding permission to witness resuscitation events. Members of the emergency medical services are split on this issue, noting benefits but also potentially negative consequences to family presence during resuscitation efforts.

A new study has found that family members who observed resuscitation efforts were significantly less likely to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression than family members that did not. The results, published in an online article in The New England Journal of Medicine, entitled “Family Presence during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation,” were the same regardless of the survival of the patient. The study involved 570 people in France whose family members were treated by emergency medical personnel at home. These EMS teams were unique in that they were comprised of a physician, a nurse trained in emergency medicine, and two emergency medical technicians. The study found that the presence of relatives did not affect the results of CPR, nor did it increase the stress levels of the emergency medical teams. Having family present also did not result in any...

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...f this is available, trained staff that can prepare the family members for what they will witness, support them through the event, and then direct them after the event’s conclusion.

The American Heart Association states that the goals of cardiopulmonary resuscitation are, “to preserve life, restore health, relieve suffering, limit disability, and respect the individual’s decisions rights and privacy” (AHA Guidelines for CPR). The practice of offering family members the opportunity to be present during CPR is a controversial ethical issue in emergency medical services. While the results of the study published on this topic in The New England Journal of Medicine clearly show no negative side effects from having families present during resuscitation attempts, the limitations of the study lend to the need for more research before it could be universally accepted.