Kieran McLaughlin and colleagues present results from a literature review on the support given to families before, during and after attempts to resuscitate their loved ones

The sudden admission to an emergency department (ED) of a patient requiring resuscitation can be a traumatic experience for families, who often require a great deal of support from ED staff. The needs of such staff must be considered too if the care of patients and families during resuscitation attempts is to be improved. This article discusses the findings of a systematic review of the literature on family-centred care during and after resuscitation attempts, and reveals that, although families appear to favour witnessed resuscitation, the practice remains controversial among healthcare professionals. Chaotic workloads, time restraints, lack of education and poor coping abilities all appear to affect wider implementation of the practice in EDs.