Marine Riou1, Stephen Ball2, Austin Whiteside3, Janet Bray4, Gavin D Perkins5, Karen Smith6, Kay L O'Halloran7, Daniel M Fatovich8, Madoka Inoue2, Paul Bailey9, Peter Cameron10, Deon Brink9, Judith Finn11. 1. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia. Electronic address: marine.riou@curtin.edu.au. 2. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia. 3. St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA, 6104, Australia. 4. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia. 5. Warwick Clinical Trials Unit and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. 6. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia; Ambulance Victoria, Blackburn North, Victoria, 3130, Australia. 7. School of Education, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia. 8. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Emergency Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia; Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Royal Perth Hospital, WA, 6847, Australia. 9. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA, 6104, Australia. 10. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia. 11. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA, 6104, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In emergency ambulance calls for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) plays a crucial role in patient survival. We examined whether the language used by dispatchers to initiate CPR had an impact on callers' agreement to perform CPR. METHODS: We analysed 424 emergency calls relating to cases of paramedic-confirmed OHCA where OHCA was recognised by the dispatcher, the caller was with the patient, and resuscitation was attempted by paramedics. We investigated the linguistic choices used by dispatchers to initiate CPR, and the impact of those choices on caller agreement to perform CPR. RESULTS: Overall, CPR occurred in 85% of calls. Caller agreement was low (43%) when dispatchers used terms of willingness ("do you want to do CPR?"). Caller agreement was high (97% and 84% respectively) when dispatchers talked about CPR in terms of futurity ("we are going to do CPR") or obligation ("we need to do CPR"). In 38% (25/66) of calls where the caller initially declined CPR, the dispatcher eventually secured their agreement by making several attempts at initiating CPR. CONCLUSION: There is potential for increased agreement to perform CPR if dispatchers are trained to initiate CPR with words of futurity and/or obligation.
BACKGROUND: In emergency ambulance calls for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) plays a crucial role in patient survival. We examined whether the language used by dispatchers to initiate CPR had an impact on callers' agreement to perform CPR. METHODS: We analysed 424 emergency calls relating to cases of paramedic-confirmed OHCA where OHCA was recognised by the dispatcher, the caller was with the patient, and resuscitation was attempted by paramedics. We investigated the linguistic choices used by dispatchers to initiate CPR, and the impact of those choices on caller agreement to perform CPR. RESULTS: Overall, CPR occurred in 85% of calls. Caller agreement was low (43%) when dispatchers used terms of willingness ("do you want to do CPR?"). Caller agreement was high (97% and 84% respectively) when dispatchers talked about CPR in terms of futurity ("we are going to do CPR") or obligation ("we need to do CPR"). In 38% (25/66) of calls where the caller initially declined CPR, the dispatcher eventually secured their agreement by making several attempts at initiating CPR. CONCLUSION: There is potential for increased agreement to perform CPR if dispatchers are trained to initiate CPR with words of futurity and/or obligation.
Authors: Philip Weng Kee Leong; Benjamin Sieu-Hon Leong; Shalini Arulanandam; Marie Xin Ru Ng; Yih Yng Ng; Marcus Eng Hock Ong; Desmond Ren Hao Mao Journal: Singapore Med J Date: 2020-05-27 Impact factor: 1.858