Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/36906
Appears in Collections:Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: “All sorts of colours of emotions”: ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
Author(s): Farquharson, Barbara
Johnston, Marie
O’Brien, Rosaleen
Clegg, Gareth
Contact Email: barbara.farquharson2@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Cardiac arrest
Out of hospital
Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems
Issue Date: Mar-2025
Date Deposited: 12-Mar-2025
Citation: Farquharson B, Johnston M, O’Brien R & Clegg G (2025) “All sorts of colours of emotions”: ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. <i>Resuscitation Plus</i>, 22, Art. No.: 100904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resplu.2025.100904
Abstract: Aim To explore call-handlers’ perceptions of the main barriers to achieving CPR during emergency calls to the ambulance service. Methods Thirty purposively sampled call-handlers, working in seven UK ambulance dispatch centres, participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews designed to explore their experiences of providing CPR instructions and their perceptions of the most common barriers to initiation of CPR. Results Participants (20F 9 M 1non-binary), aged 21–57 years, with varied length of experience (6mths −25 yrs), self-reported confidence (3–10/10), experience of NHS Pathways and MPDS, described providing CPR calls typically once per shift, with most call-handlers reporting barriers to CPR in most calls. The barriers to initiating CPR most commonly identified by call-handlers were the strong emotions experienced by callers; physical issues relating to the caller, patient and situation; uncertainty about whether CPR was required, particularly uncertainty about breathing and caller concerns about doing harm. Participants described many overlapping issues, making each call a unique challenge. They also provided insights into the complexities of ambiguous situations such as those encountered by carers and care-homes, DNACPR issues, as well as facilitating factors. Conclusion Call-handlers identified barriers to CPR that echo those identified via other study methods plus provide additional insights into areas not readily addressed by current protocols. Call-handlers’ perspectives may be helpful in identifying priority areas for protocol refinement and ways to improve the efficacy of CPR instructions.
DOI Link: 10.1016/j.resplu.2025.100904
Rights: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You are not required to obtain permission to reuse this article.
Licence URL(s): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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