To survive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a search for meaning and coherence

Qual Health Res. 2009 Mar;19(3):323-38. doi: 10.1177/1049732309331866.

Abstract

The primary responsibility of prehospital emergency personnel at out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) is to provide lifesaving care. Ethical considerations, decisions, and actions should be based in the patient's beliefs about health and well-being. In this article, we describe patients' experiences of surviving OHCA. By using a phenomenological approach, we focus on how OHCA influences patients' well-being over time. Nine survivors were interviewed. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is described as a sudden and elusive threat, an awakening in perplexity, and the memory gap as a loss of coherence. Survival means a search for coherence with distressing and joyful understanding, as well as existential insecurity exposed by feelings of vulnerability. Well-being is found through a sense of coherence and meaning in life. The study findings show survivors' emotional needs and a potential for prehospital emergency personnel to support them as they try to make sense of what has happened to them.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
  • Emergency Medical Services*
  • Female
  • Heart Arrest / therapy*
  • Humans
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Quality of Life
  • Survival Analysis
  • Survivors / psychology*
  • Sweden
  • Treatment Outcome