Reuters: When family members are allowed to watch emergency personnel try but fail to resuscitate a loved one, the relatives are less likely to have post traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety or depression months later, in a new French study.
The researchers, who published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, also found that allowing the family to witness the rescue attempts did not increase stress on the health care workers, influence whether the victim survived or result in more lawsuits.
“Family presence during CPR was associated with positive results on psychological variables and did not interfere with medical efforts,” wrote the team, led by Dr. Patricia Jabre of Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny.
Supporters of the idea of allowing family members to observe say it can help them understand that medical workers did everything they could, come to grips with the reality of death and give the family the chance to say goodbye.
