Family Presence and Audience Effects on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Perceptions of Pre-hospital Emergency Caregivers in Turkey

ABSTRACT Background There have been many studies regarding family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation and most of them are about emergency services or intensive care units. However, the issue has not been studied enough in terms of pre-hospital emergency medicine and the perspective of pre-hospital emergency caregivers. Aim In this study, it is aimed to present the perceptions and attitudes of a group of pre-hospital emergency care professionals to family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Method The data for this descriptive research was collected between March-May 2015. The participants were 63 pre-hospital healthcares from a small city, Afyonkarahisar. The data was collected using a questionnaire and the responses summarized by using frequencies and percentages. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample and each of the survey items. Findings Of the respondents, for demographic findings of each groups by highest rates; 38 (60.32%) were male, 31 (49.21%) were paramedics and 37 (58.73%) were 1-3 years work experienced. 65.07% were strongly opposed to the family presence during CPR. Among the total sample, 71.41% of participants did not agree with that the presence of press members positively affects their performance. Conclusion The presence of significant others during CPR affects pre-hospital emergency caregivers negatively. Disturbing effect on caregivers is related not only to the presence of family members or to other significant others but also related to the press and audience. Family presence causes health professionals to experience performance anxiety. Family presence and the audience effect are crucial issues that need more attention in pre-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation.