title: Bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation out-of-hospital. A first description of the bystanders and their experiences.
abstract: At present there are about 1 million trained cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) rescuers in Sweden. CPR out-of-hospital is initiated about 2000 times a year in Sweden. However, very little is known about the bystanders' experiences and reactions. The aim of this study was to describe bystander-initiated CPR, the circumstances, the bystander and his experiences. All CPR bystanders in Sweden who reported their resuscitation attempts between 1990 and 1994 were approached with a phone interview and a postal questionnaire, resulting in 742 questionnaires. Bystander-initiated CPR most frequently took place in public places such as the street. The rescuer most frequently had problems with mouth-to-mouth ventilation (20%) and vomiting (18%). More than half (53%) of the rescuers experienced CPR without problems. Ninety-two percent of the bystanders had no hesitation because of fear of contracting the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus. Ninety-three percent of the rescuers regarded their intervention as a mainly positive experience. Of 425 interviewed rescuers, 99.5% were prepared to start CPR again.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Axelsson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herlitz
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ekström
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holmberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005392:First Aid / Q000523:psychology*; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology