Should relatives watch resuscitation? No room for spectators

BMJ 1994;309:406 (6 August)

Letters

Should relatives watch resuscitation? No room for spectators

EDITOR, - The article discussing whether relatives should beallowed to watch resuscitation raised some interesting points.¹As a medical registrar I have several objections to relativesbeing allowed to watch resuscitation.

The atmosphere of a resuscitation in hospital is very differentfrom that described by the authors. Far from being a calm, controlledenvironment, it often comprises five scared junior members ofstaff crowded around a hospital bed.

It is the job of the person leading the arrest team to instilconfidence and prevent panic. I have found that one of the mosteffective ways of doing this is to appear detached about whatis going on around me, and even to make occasional lightheartedcomments. I believe that this slightly relaxed atmosphere helpspeople to concentrate on the priorities of the job in hand andavoid being distracted by unimportant details because of anxiety.The presence of a . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Should relatives be allowed to watch resuscitation?: S Adams, M Whitlock, P J F Baskett, P Bloomfield, and R Higgs
BMJ 1994 308: 1687-1689. [Extract] [Full Text]

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Bambi, S., Becattini, G., Lumini, E. (2007). An Italian Perspective on Family Presence. Am J Crit Care 16: 429-430 [Full text]
Grice, A. S., Picton, P., Deakin, C. D. S. (2003). Study examining attitudes of staff, patients and relatives to witnessed resuscitation in adult intensive care units. Br J Anaesth 91: 820-824 [Abstract] [Full text]
Tsai, E. (2002). Should Family Members Be Present during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation?. NEJM 346: 1019-1021 [Full text]