Highlighting reported psychological issues of co-survivors post-delivery of CPR in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest; a qualitative study

Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major healthcare concern affecting up to half a million people per year worldwide. In England, up to 80% of OHCA’s occur in a person’s own place of residence, with approximately half of all cases witnessed by a bystander, and bystander initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is attempted in 78% of witnessed cases. There is growing recognition that witnessing an OHCA and assisting in CPR is a highly traumatic event and that so-called ‘co-survivors’ (those involved in the resuscitation attempt) are likely to have unmet needs. Currently, there is no nationally agreed commissioned model for the follow-up of OHCA survivors or co-survivors despite calls from one major national society to standardise practices