Out of sight - Out of mind? The need for a professional and standardized peri-mission first responder support model

Sebastian Schnaubelt; Simon Orlob; Christoph Veigl; Patrick Sulzgruber; Mario Krammel; Kasper G Lauridsen; Robert Greif

doi:10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100449

Out of sight - Out of mind? The need for a professional and standardized peri-mission first responder support model

Resusc Plus. 2023 Aug 11:15:100449. doi: 10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100449. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Sebastian Schnaubelt^{1

2

3

4}, Simon Orlob^{3

5

6}, Christoph Veigl^{1

2}, Patrick Sulzgruber^{2

7}, Mario Krammel^{2

8}, Kasper G Lauridsen^{9

10

11}, Robert Greif^{12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
² PULS - Austrian Cardiac Arrest Awareness Association, Vienna, Austria.
³ Austrian Resuscitation Council, Graz, Austria.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
⁶ Drueck Mich! Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer Notfallmedizin, Graz, Austria.
⁷ Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
⁸ Emergency Medical Service Vienna, Austria.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Randers Regional Hospital, Randers, Denmark.
¹⁰ Research Center for Emergency Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹¹ Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA.
¹² University of Bern, Switzerland.
¹³ School of Medicine, Sigmund Freud University, Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

First responders are an essential part of the chain (-mail) of survival as they bridge and reduce the time to first chest compressions and defibrillation substantially. However, in the peri-mission phase before and after being sent to a cardiac arrest, these first responders are in danger of being forgotten and taken for granted, and the potential psychological impact has to be remembered. We propose a standardized first responder support system (FRSS) that needs to ensure that first responders are valued and cared for in terms of psychological safety and continuing motivation. This multi-tiered program should involve tailored education and standardized debriefing, as well as actively seeking contact with the first responders after their missions to facilitate potentially needed professional psychological support.

Keywords: Automated-external defibrillator; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Chainmail of survival; Debriefing; First responder support system; First responders; System to save lives.