High touch in high tech: the presence of relatives and friends during resuscitative efforts

Hospital emergency departments traditionally have policies that require relatives and friends to wait out the resuscitative attempt of their loved ones in a counseling room. In recent years, this widespread practice has been questioned. In some hospitals, family members and friends are given the option to attend the resuscitative effort. Based on in depth interviews, three different resuscitation perspectives to which health care providers subscribe have been identified. According to the advocates of the survival framework, the only goal that a resuscitation should achieve is to save a human life. In the bifurcated perspectives, a resuscitation has two separate goals: saving lives and taking care of family members. Health care providers who subscribe to the holistic framework are still concerned with survival of the patient, but significant others become participants in the resuscitation process.