The latter was described as the major difference and benefit compared to talking to friends and relatives. Other short-term effects selleck inhibitor were relief to know that they hadn’t done anything wrong, leading to inner peace and security, and being able to address the potential feeling of guilt. Few bystanders from our sample did not feel the need for debriefing. Three main themes were identified when exploring the retention of debriefing effects after two months: (1) Emotional benefits, since debriefing stimulated reflection, positively influencing the ability to cope with emotional reactions and cognitive perception of own performance;
(2) Confidence high throughput screening in own skills, due to assertiveness resulting from the opportunity to clarify uncertainties about the resuscitation attempt and a gained confidence in initiating CPR; (3) Keeping up to date because of reflections on improvement of individual performance in the future and also on how to disseminate gained knowledge. The interviewed bystanders still reflected about their experience in participating in a resuscitation attempt despite the interview being conducted 1–2 months after the OHCA. Many addressed the major gap between their expectations
to OHCA and actual experiences. BLS courses were described as being too superficial and lacking preparation on how the OHCA situation and resuscitation attempt can go beyond the
related practicalities, but may also comprise unpleasant reactions and a stressful atmosphere, which needs to be overcome in order to react. Bystanders reported it was crucial to be contacted by the healthcare professionals and not having to take the initiative to make the call to the EMD themselves. They all expressed that asking for help Forskolin in vitro would be a barrier. Debriefing after 2–4 days was reported appropriate. It was important to have a phone number to the EMD and to know that it was expected of them to call back in case of a need for further clarification and served as an important safety net. It was agreed that the content of the conversation was adequate, and that a positive, listening and curious approach by the healthcare professionals was successful. Finally, bystanders emphasized the importance of the interviewer’s good communicative and empathic skills, especially in order to identify people with additional need for help from their general practitioner or a psychologist. This is the first study to assess which reactions bystanders addressed when receiving debriefing by medical dispatchers, bystanders’ perception of short term effects of receiving debriefing, retention of effects and bystanders’ recommendations for a systematic debriefing concept.