440 The ‘Elusive Good Samaritans’: Locating those who have Witnessed or Performed CPR and Signposting them to Appropriate Support

Purpose: The psychological impact of witnessing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been likened to those seen in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), highlighting that the emotional toll on someone who performs or witnesses CPR, especially in high demanding situations like a sudden cardiac arrest, can be profound and long-lasting. Debriefing and defusing is essential for preventing PTSD signs and symptoms developing in lay responders. Contacting ‘The Elusive Good Samaritan’ post event is challenging and timely signposting to appropriate support difficult. Furthermore, understanding of the support needs of this unique population are not well recognised. In the UK, most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occur at home. The service improvement work reported here, investigates the frequency of ‘rescuers’ being known to OHCA survivors and feasibility of the survivor playing a role in facilitating support access for their rescuer. Methods: As part of service improvement, patients (and/or their family members) who attended Cardiac Rehabilitation following a cardiac arrest (between 20/11/24–12/05/25) in Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board (Wales, UK) received a wallet sized card, signposting to the Resuscitation Council UK ‘Support after cardiac arrest’ web resource. Data were collected regarding: location of cardiac arrest; whether rescuer was known to patient; role of family members in the cardiac arrest event. Results: During the timeframe investigated, 14 cardiac arrest patients (n=9 OHCA; n=4 in-hospital cardiac arrest; n=1 unknown) received Cardiac Rehabilitation. Fifty percent had family members who had either; witnessed and/or performed CPR, witnessed defibrillation and/or used a defibrillator, in their respective cardiac arrest events. Six of the OHCA patients, knew their rescuer. In total, 19 support cards were allocated to the OHCA patients for distribution to their rescuers and other family members affected by their cardiac arrest. Conclusion: Cardiac Rehabilitation and OHCA survivors are key, timely touchpoints to signposting patients, families and rescuers to support.