'We're going to do CPR': A linguistic study of the words used to initiate dispatcher-assisted CPR and their association with caller agreement

Marine Riou; Stephen Ball; Austin Whiteside; Janet Bray; Gavin D Perkins; Karen Smith; Kay L O'Halloran; Daniel M Fatovich; Madoka Inoue; Paul Bailey; Peter Cameron; Deon Brink; Judith Finn

doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2018.10.011

'We're going to do CPR': A linguistic study of the words used to initiate dispatcher-assisted CPR and their association with caller agreement

Resuscitation. 2018 Dec:133:95-100. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2018.10.011. Epub 2018 Oct 11.

Authors

Marine Riou¹, Stephen Ball², Austin Whiteside³, Janet Bray⁴, Gavin D Perkins⁵, Karen Smith⁶, Kay L O'Halloran⁷, Daniel M Fatovich⁸, Madoka Inoue², Paul Bailey⁹, Peter Cameron¹⁰, Deon Brink⁹, Judith Finn¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia.
³ St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA, 6104, Australia.
⁴ Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia.
⁵ Warwick Clinical Trials Unit and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia; Ambulance Victoria, Blackburn North, Victoria, 3130, Australia.
⁷ School of Education, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia.
⁸ Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia; Emergency Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia; Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Royal Perth Hospital, WA, 6847, Australia.
⁹ Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA, 6104, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia.
¹¹ Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia; St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA, 6104, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, 3004, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.

PMID: 30316951
DOI: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2018.10.011

Abstract

Background: In emergency ambulance calls for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) plays a crucial role in patient survival. We examined whether the language used by dispatchers to initiate CPR had an impact on callers' agreement to perform CPR.

Methods: We analysed 424 emergency calls relating to cases of paramedic-confirmed OHCA where OHCA was recognised by the dispatcher, the caller was with the patient, and resuscitation was attempted by paramedics. We investigated the linguistic choices used by dispatchers to initiate CPR, and the impact of those choices on caller agreement to perform CPR.

Results: Overall, CPR occurred in 85% of calls. Caller agreement was low (43%) when dispatchers used terms of willingness ("do you want to do CPR?"). Caller agreement was high (97% and 84% respectively) when dispatchers talked about CPR in terms of futurity ("we are going to do CPR") or obligation ("we need to do CPR"). In 38% (25/66) of calls where the caller initially declined CPR, the dispatcher eventually secured their agreement by making several attempts at initiating CPR.

Conclusion: There is potential for increased agreement to perform CPR if dispatchers are trained to initiate CPR with words of futurity and/or obligation.

Keywords: Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Communication; Conversation analysis; Dispatch; Emergency calls; Emergency medical services; Linguistics; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / education*
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / methods
Emergency Medical Dispatch / methods
Emergency Medical Dispatch / statistics & numerical data*
Humans
Linguistics*
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / mortality
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / therapy*
Retrospective Studies
Statistics, Nonparametric