FAQ

Supporting a partner or family member through recovery from cardiac arrest can be as challenging as the event itself — and co-survivors often neglect their own needs while focusing entirely on the person recovering.

A few things that can help:

Learn about what to expect. Recovery from cardiac arrest takes time and often involves physical fatigue, cognitive difficulties such as memory and concentration problems, emotional changes, and psychological challenges such as anxiety and depression. Understanding that these are normal and that recovery often continues for 12 months or more can help reduce frustration and worry.

Attend clinic appointments together. This gives you the opportunity to ask questions directly and hear the same information as the survivor. Clinicians can also address your concerns.

Talk to someone about your own experience. Co-survivors need support too. Your GP can help, and you may be able to access talking therapy through NHS Talking Therapies. Peer support — connecting with others who have been in your position — is particularly valued by co-survivors.

Give the survivor space to recover at their own pace, but do not become their full-time carer at the expense of your own wellbeing. Boundaries are healthy and sustainable.

Contact Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK. We can connect you with resources, peer support, and others who have been through the same experience — including co-survivors.

Yes — even if you were not the one who performed CPR, witnessing a cardiac arrest is a profoundly shocking experience. Seeing someone you love collapse, not knowing whether they would survive, spending days or weeks at a hospital bedside, and then navigating their recovery at home can all leave lasting psychological effects.

What you experienced meets the criteria for a potentially traumatic event. It is entirely normal to have intrusive thoughts, disturbing dreams, difficulty concentrating, heightened anxiety, fear of it happening again, or periods of low mood — even weeks or months after the event. You may also find yourself feeling emotionally numb or detached, or swinging between feeling fine and feeling overwhelmed.

These are not signs of weakness. They are signs that something very frightening happened to you, and your mind and body are still processing it. Many co-survivors find that symptoms reduce naturally over time with the support of people around them. Others find that symptoms persist or worsen, in which case professional support is recommended.

Talk to your GP about what you are experiencing. You can also contact Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK to connect with others who understand what you have been through.

Yes, and more profoundly than many people expect. Performing CPR on someone you love is one of the most distressing experiences a person can face. You were trying to keep someone alive — possibly not knowing whether your efforts were working, possibly believing at some point that you were losing them. That is a deeply traumatic experience, regardless of the outcome.

Co-survivors who performed CPR commonly report intrusive thoughts and flashbacks replaying the moment of collapse or the resuscitation itself, guilt about whether they started quickly enough or performed it correctly, hypervigilance about the survivor’s health, fear of being left alone with the survivor, and difficulty sleeping.

It is important to know that guilt about CPR performance is extremely common and almost never warranted. Even trained paramedics do not perform CPR perfectly under stress. Imperfect CPR is far better than no CPR, and the fact that you acted almost certainly made a difference.

If you are struggling with distressing thoughts, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, or low mood following the experience, please talk to your GP. Effective treatments are available, including trauma-focused CBT and EMDR. You can also contact Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK for peer support from others who have been through similar experiences.

A co-survivor is a family member, partner, friend, or colleague who was present at a cardiac arrest or closely affected by it. The term recognises that a cardiac arrest is a traumatic event not just for the person who experienced it, but for everyone around them — particularly those who witnessed the collapse, performed CPR, called 999, or waited at the hospital not knowing whether their loved one would survive.

Co-survivors are sometimes called secondary survivors. Their psychological needs are distinct from those of the survivor themselves, but equally real and equally valid. Research consistently shows that co-survivors experience high rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and fear of recurrence — often persisting long after the survivor has been discharged home and is visibly recovering.

Despite this, co-survivors frequently report that their needs go unrecognised by healthcare services, which tend to focus on the patient. If you are a co-survivor, your experience matters. Support is available — through peer support networks, psychological services, and organisations such as Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK.