Introduction:

During resuscitation, family members are often escorted out of the room at emergency departments. But this traditional attitude has never been proved by studies. However, mounting evidence suggests that family presence during resuscitation could be beneficial. Certainly suggesting FWR and giving families the chance to witness the resuscitation in appropriate circumstances, in this study ; we aimed to determine the level of satisfaction and factors that influence satisfaction of families who witnessed their relatives’ cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Method:

This prospective research was conducted in Dokuz Eylül University Hospital (DEUTFH) Department of Emergency Medicine during a four month period between July1 and October 31, 2005. Older than 18 years old and volunteered relatives of adult patients who required cardiopulmonary resuscitation were included. One week after CPR, families were asked to complete a questionnaire including questions about resuscitation room, witnessing the resuscitation and loosing their loved one.

Results:

23 patients underwent witnessed resuscitation in the study. 95.7% of doctors managing CPR said that relatives neither interrupted the CPR, nor disturbed the team. Maximum point in the questionnaire was 22 points and the minimum was 15. When interviewed one week later; 100 % of relatives stated that witnessing was the right choice. With this data, no relatives were unsatisfied about witnessing.

Conclusion:

It is concluded that emergency department doctors should be more sensitive to the presence of family members during CPR and give them the choice to be with their loved ones. But some more studies with more participation are needed to support the purposal.

Keywords: Cardiopulmonary arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, family witnessed resuscitation, emergency department, satisfaction