• I Fernández-Aedo, I Pérez-Urdiales, S Unanue-Arza, Z García-Azpiazu, and S Ballesteros-Peña.
• Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Leioa, Bizkaia, España.
• Enferm Intensiva. 2017 Apr 1; 28 (2): 57-63.

ObjectiveTo explore the experiences, emotions and coping skills among emergency medical technicians and emergency nurses after performing out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation manoeuvres resulting in death.MethodAn exploratory qualitative research was performed. Seven emergency medical technicians and six emergency nurses were selected by non-probability sampling among emergency medical system workers. The meetings took place up to information saturation, achieved after six individual interviews and a focal group. The meetings were then transcribed and a manual and inductive analysis of the contents performed.Main ResultsAfter a failed resuscitation several short and long-term reactions appear. They can be negatives, such as sadness or uncertainty, or positives, such as the feeling of having done everything possible to save the patient's life. Emotional stress increases when ambulance staff have to talk with the deceased's family or when the patient is a child. The workers don't know of a coping strategy other than talking about their emotions with their colleagues.ConclusionsDeath after a failed resuscitation can be viewed as a traumatic experience for rescuers. Being in contact with the suffering of others is an emotional, stress-generating factor with direct repercussions on the working and personal lives of emergency staff. Nevertheless, structured coping techniques are not common among those professionals.Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Enfermería Intensiva y Unidades Coronarias (SEEIUC). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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