Background: Recent decades have shown major improvements in survival rates after cardiac arrest. However, few\ninterventions have been tested in order to improve the care for survivors and their family members. In many countries,\nincluding Sweden, national guidelines for post cardiac arrest care and follow-up programs are not available and current\npractice has not previously been investigated. The aim of this survey was therefore to describe current post cardiac\narrest care and follow-up in Sweden.\nMethods: An internet based questionnaire was sent to the resuscitation coordinators at all Swedish emergency hospitals\n(n = 74) and 59 answers were received. Quantitative data were analysed with descriptive statistics and free text responses\nwere analysed using manifest content analysis.\nResults: Almost half of the hospitals in Sweden (n = 27, 46 %) have local guidelines for post cardiac arrest care and\nfollow-up. However, 39 % of them reported that these guidelines were not always applied. The most common routine is\na follow-up visit at a cardiac reception unit. If the need for neurological or psychological support are discovered the\nroutines are not explicit. In addition, family members are not always included in the follow-up.\nConclusions: Although efforts are already made to improve post cardiac arrest care and follow-up, many hospitals\nneed to focus more on this part of cardiac arrest treatment. In addition, evidence-based national guidelines will have to\nbe developed and implemented in order to achieve a more uniform care and follow-up for survivors and their family\nmembers. This national survey highlights this need, and might be helpful in the implementation of such guidelines.
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