Version 1
: Received: 26 September 2023 / Approved: 27 September 2023 / Online: 28 September 2023 (04:17:35 CEST)
How to cite:
Dainty, K.; Brooks, S.; Grunau, B.; Kline, S.; Shore, M. Impact of the COVID-19 on Bystanderism: Does a Pandemic Change the Canadian Public’s Willingness to Help during Cardiac Arrest Emergency?. Preprints2023, 2023091899. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.1899.v1
Dainty, K.; Brooks, S.; Grunau, B.; Kline, S.; Shore, M. Impact of the COVID-19 on Bystanderism: Does a Pandemic Change the Canadian Public’s Willingness to Help during Cardiac Arrest Emergency?. Preprints 2023, 2023091899. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.1899.v1
Dainty, K.; Brooks, S.; Grunau, B.; Kline, S.; Shore, M. Impact of the COVID-19 on Bystanderism: Does a Pandemic Change the Canadian Public’s Willingness to Help during Cardiac Arrest Emergency?. Preprints2023, 2023091899. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.1899.v1
APA Style
Dainty, K., Brooks, S., Grunau, B., Kline, S., & Shore, M. (2023). Impact of the COVID-19 on Bystanderism: Does a Pandemic Change the Canadian Public’s Willingness to Help during Cardiac Arrest Emergency?. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.1899.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Dainty, K., Scott Kline and Megan Shore. 2023 "Impact of the COVID-19 on Bystanderism: Does a Pandemic Change the Canadian Public’s Willingness to Help during Cardiac Arrest Emergency?" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.1899.v1
Abstract
Introduction: Bystander CPR rates have increase from 15% to 30% in many countries over the last 20 years. However, these gains are at risk of being lost in the face of fear of transmission of the SARS-COV-2 virus given the global COVID-19 pandemic. This survey study was designed to examine the opinions and perceptions of the Canadian public on bystanderism as it relates to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic with a view to understanding the implications of those opinions on our expectations of bystanders during, and after the pandemic. Methods: In order to capture a pan-Canadian sample of the general public, we engaged with a well-established public opinion polling vendor, IPSOS (www.ipsos.com), to conduct a robust survey on public willingness to do bystander CPR in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Results: A total of n=1,000 surveys were completed by Canadian adults using the IPSOS eNation Canadian Online Omnibus survey platform.In summary there were five key findings from this pan-Canadian survey: 1) the ability to recognize cardiac arrest remains a point of confusion for the lay public, 2) at the time of the survey only about half of respondents said they would respond to someone having cardiac arrest, 3) the majority of respondents said the pandemic has changed their willingness to respond to someone in cardiac arrest, 4) willingness to use an AED is low and the greatest barrier was reported as lack of experience, and lastly 5) most Canadians say it is important to be certified in CPR and are willing to take a CPR training course, however only half are willing to pay for it. Conclusion: Bystander CPR is an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victim’s best chance of survival and so our understanding of how we encourage more citizens to respond given the current realities is more crucial than ever. Wider dissemination of the growing evidence on the safety of CPR in the context of COVID-19 and resuscitation training courses implemented with specific CPR maneuvers to reduce the risk of infection should be implemented to continued uncertainty and erosion in bystander CPR culture.
Keywords
COVID-19; bystander CPR; survey; willingness; public opinion
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
