Wellbeing, Emotional Response and Stress among Lay Responders Dispatched to Suspected Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests.

Abstract Background Systems for smartphone dispatch of lay responders to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and bring automated external defibrillators to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) are advocated by recent international guidelines and emerging worldwide. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the emotional responses, posttraumatic stress reactions and levels of wellbeing among smartphone-alerted lay responders dispatched to suspected OHCAs. Methods Lay responders were stratified by level of exposure: unexposed (Exp-0), tried to reach (Exp-1), and reached the suspected OHCA (Exp-2). Participants rated their emotional responses online, at 90 minutes and at 4–6 weeks after an incident. Level of emotional response was measured in two dimensions of core affect: “alertness” – from deactivation to activation, and “pleasantness” – from unpleasant to pleasant. At 4–6 weeks, WHO wellbeing index and level of posttraumatic stress (PTSD) were also rated. Results Altogether, 915 (28%) unexposed and 1471 (64%) exposed responders completed the survey. Alertness was elevated in the exposed groups: Exp-0: 6.7 vs. Exp-1: 7.3 and Exp-2: 7.5, (p Conclusion Smartphone dispatched lay responders rated the experience as high-energy and mainly positive. No harm to the lay responders was seen. The exposed groups had low posttraumatic stress scores and high-level general wellbeing at follow-up.