“All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
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 expl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Resuscitation Plus |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666520425000414 |
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| author | Barbara Farquharson Marie Johnston Rosaleen O’Brien Gareth Clegg |
| author_facet | Barbara Farquharson Marie Johnston Rosaleen O’Brien Gareth Clegg |
| author_sort | Barbara Farquharson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1c44e239d1754c39ad7c44ff3f5ca0b4 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-5204 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Resuscitation Plus |
| spelling | doaj-art-1c44e239d1754c39ad7c44ff3f5ca0b42025-08-20T02:04:15ZengElsevierResuscitation Plus2666-52042025-03-012210090410.1016/j.resplu.2025.100904“All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrestBarbara Farquharson0Marie Johnston1Rosaleen O’Brien2Gareth Clegg3Centre for Healthcare and Community Research (CHeCR), University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.University of Aberdeen, United KingdomIndependent Researcher, United KingdomUniversity of Edinburgh, United KingdomAim: 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.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666520425000414Cardiopulmonary ResuscitationCardiac arrestOut of hospitalEmergency Medical Service Communication Systems |
| spellingShingle | Barbara Farquharson Marie Johnston Rosaleen O’Brien Gareth Clegg “All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Resuscitation Plus Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Cardiac arrest Out of hospital Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems |
| title | “All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest |
| title_full | “All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest |
| title_fullStr | “All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest |
| title_full_unstemmed | “All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest |
| title_short | “All sorts of colours of emotions”: Ambulance call-handlers’ perceptions of the barriers to CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest |
| title_sort | all sorts of colours of emotions ambulance call handlers perceptions of the barriers to cpr in out of hospital cardiac arrest |
| topic | Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Cardiac arrest Out of hospital Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666520425000414 |
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