In-hospital family-witnessed resuscitation with a focus on the prevalence, processes, and outcomes of resuscitation: A retrospective observational cohort study.

Abstract Aim International and national guidelines support in-hospital, family-witnessed resuscitation, provided that patients are not negatively affected. Empirical evidence regarding whether family presence interferes with resuscitation procedures is still scarce. The aim was to describe the prevalence and processes of family-witnessed resuscitation in hospitalised adult patients, and to investigate associations between family-witnessed resuscitation and the outcomes of resuscitation. Methods Nationwide observational cohort study based on data from the Swedish Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Results In all, 3257 patients with sudden, in-hospital cardiac arrests were included. Of those, 395 had family on site (12%), of whom 186 (6%) remained at the scene. It was more common to offer family the option to stay during resuscitation if the cardiac arrest occurred in emergency departments, intensive-care units or cardiac-care units, compared to hospital wards (44% vs. 26%, p Conclusions In-hospital, family-witnessed resuscitation is uncommon, but the processes and outcomes do not seem to be negatively affected, suggesting that staff should routinely invite family to witness resuscitation.