Additional responsibility for physicians caring for cardiac patients: Insight from a case series

Abstract

Resuscitation measures performed at the scene of the event have the ultimate impact on the outcome of a cardiac arrest. We analysed six case histories of those sudden cardiac arrest patients who were revived in the field and were subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit during a six-month period. All were known cardiac patients and were under the care of healthcare providers. Four of those were discharged home from the hospital and did not suffer any residual damage where as one died of multi-organ failure and the other was declared brain dead. The outcome was good in patients who received early intervention in the form of basic life support. The family members of non-survivors witnessed the cardiac arrest at home but were not familiar with the concept or procedures of basic life support. We propose that physicians who care for cardiac patients should undertake the task of increasing family member awareness and knowledge in the techniques of basic life support.

Keywords: Heart disease; Cardiac arrest; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Physicians; Family members; Education and training

Core tip: Resuscitation measures performed at the scene of the event have a major impact on the outcome of cardiac arrest. There is no specific strategy in place to motivate family members of cardiac patients to learn life-saving basic life support techniques. We propose that the physicians who care for cardiac patients should undertake the task of increasing family member awareness and knowledge of basic life support.