A long perspective of SCA: Prevention, postvention, and the needs of all affected by SCA - Thoughts from a 31-year survivor

Summary: We have long viewed response to SCA as immediate efforts in the moments after the SCA. However the needs of "chronic survivors" and co-survivors extend through the lifespan. This presentation is a call to action that will address what the needs are for all of those affected by SCA and what the future should look like and develop ways to fill these gaps.

Synopsis: Thirty years ago, survival of an out-of-hospital SCA was considered an unexpected miracle. Little was done in terms of survivor or co-survivor care after discharge, especially around social, psychological, and cognitive care. Three decades later, we continue to ignore some of the long-term impacts of SCA. People were surprised to see football players in tears on the field after Damar Hamlin's SCA. Impacts on survivors, co-survivors and anyone else affected (rescuers, witnesses, would-be rescuers, bereaved) continue to be overlooked. We have long viewed response to SCA as what is done in the moment after an SCA. That is appropriate and critical. Those moments determine who survives and who does not. But we have rarely taken a broader perspective.

We have not developed interventions for those who do survive, except for ICDs and medication and sometimes addressing underlying cause. This means that as more people survive, they will live longer with implanted devices, on various medications, and they will have to find ways to cope. They become chronic survivors and will need to incorporate their status as an SCA survivor into everything else they experience, including family, work, reproductive issues, developmental issues, the process of growing older, and co-morbid conditions they may develop. Their families and workplaces will have to adjust also. Lay responders may be haunted by experiences not addressed in basic CPR training. Bereaved families (the majority) will have unfilled voids in their lives.

This presentation is a call to action that will address what the needs are for all of those affected by SCA and what the future should look like and develop ways to fill these gaps. These include integrated care of survivors and co-survivors, resources for rescuers and would-be rescuers, psychological and rehabilitative services, and information platforms to provide information at the appropriate level and time rather than only during the chaos of a resuscitation and hospital stay.