TV Characters Who Jump to Rescue Often Get CPR, But Shows Often Get it Wrong When It Comes to Accurate Depictions of Cardiac Arrest and Hands-Only CPR.
When an actor on TV suddenly falls ill with cardiac arrest outside a hospital, they're more likely to receive CPR than a person in real life. However, shows are often inaccurate about who is most likely to experience cardiac arrest and where. New research has found that this can have consequences for viewers.
Studies have proven that health-related content appears on screen can affect viewers. For example, last year Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during a game. As medical professionals rushed him to the hospital, he was revived thanks to fast-acting CPR. The incident brought attention to hands-only CPR training for all Division I athletes.
During a recent CPR training program at Pittsburgh-area schools and college programs, participants frequently asked if they should check a pulse or give rescue breaths. They often mentioned shows like "Grey's Anatomy," which features traditional CPR techniques that can be misleading for untrained bystanders. Hands-only CPR is an effective way to administer CPR without checking for a pulse or giving breaths.
As someone who researches how medical topics on screen affect viewers, this made me curious about whether participants asked questions because they saw these practices on TV.
When it comes to health-related content on scripted television, there's been some negative and positive influence on viewers. Inaccurate information can be problematic, such as when TV exposes viewers to inaccurate info about organ donation. However, sometimes TV stories have a positive effect – like one study found that viewing an "ER" episode about breast cancer made viewers more likely to get screened and recommend patient navigators.
But there's still not much known about how seeing CPR on screen influences viewers. Previous research has looked at in-hospital cardiac arrests, but no studies have examined portrayals of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests or CPR performed by untrained rescuers.
Researchers looked up the Internet Movie Database to find episodes that featured out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and hands-only CPR. They found that around 58% of on-screen characters had a layperson perform CPR, which is more than in real life. Yet fewer than 40% of people outside hospitals get CPR. The high rates of CPR on TV could motivate viewers to act.
However, only about 30% of episodes showed hands-only CPR performed correctly, while around 50% showed characters giving rescue breaths and almost half had them checking for a pulse. These depictions may confuse viewers and make them less likely to perform hands-only CPR correctly.
The researchers also found that how cardiac arrest is depicted on TV can be misleading about where emergencies happen and who needs CPR the most. In reality, over 80% of non-hospital-based cardiac arrests occur at home, not just in front of a TV screen.
Finally, they discovered that characters experiencing cardiac arrest on TV are younger than real-life victims, with more than half under the age of 40. Real-life average age is about 62, though.
The American Heart Association recently updated its guidelines to encourage the public to envision themselves performing hands-only CPR and improve CPR education for all people who need it.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are working to understand what viewers take away from TV depictions of CPR in order to collaborate with medical professionals and improve how CPR is portrayed on screen.
When an actor on TV suddenly falls ill with cardiac arrest outside a hospital, they're more likely to receive CPR than a person in real life. However, shows are often inaccurate about who is most likely to experience cardiac arrest and where. New research has found that this can have consequences for viewers.
Studies have proven that health-related content appears on screen can affect viewers. For example, last year Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during a game. As medical professionals rushed him to the hospital, he was revived thanks to fast-acting CPR. The incident brought attention to hands-only CPR training for all Division I athletes.
During a recent CPR training program at Pittsburgh-area schools and college programs, participants frequently asked if they should check a pulse or give rescue breaths. They often mentioned shows like "Grey's Anatomy," which features traditional CPR techniques that can be misleading for untrained bystanders. Hands-only CPR is an effective way to administer CPR without checking for a pulse or giving breaths.
As someone who researches how medical topics on screen affect viewers, this made me curious about whether participants asked questions because they saw these practices on TV.
When it comes to health-related content on scripted television, there's been some negative and positive influence on viewers. Inaccurate information can be problematic, such as when TV exposes viewers to inaccurate info about organ donation. However, sometimes TV stories have a positive effect – like one study found that viewing an "ER" episode about breast cancer made viewers more likely to get screened and recommend patient navigators.
But there's still not much known about how seeing CPR on screen influences viewers. Previous research has looked at in-hospital cardiac arrests, but no studies have examined portrayals of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests or CPR performed by untrained rescuers.
Researchers looked up the Internet Movie Database to find episodes that featured out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and hands-only CPR. They found that around 58% of on-screen characters had a layperson perform CPR, which is more than in real life. Yet fewer than 40% of people outside hospitals get CPR. The high rates of CPR on TV could motivate viewers to act.
However, only about 30% of episodes showed hands-only CPR performed correctly, while around 50% showed characters giving rescue breaths and almost half had them checking for a pulse. These depictions may confuse viewers and make them less likely to perform hands-only CPR correctly.
The researchers also found that how cardiac arrest is depicted on TV can be misleading about where emergencies happen and who needs CPR the most. In reality, over 80% of non-hospital-based cardiac arrests occur at home, not just in front of a TV screen.
Finally, they discovered that characters experiencing cardiac arrest on TV are younger than real-life victims, with more than half under the age of 40. Real-life average age is about 62, though.
The American Heart Association recently updated its guidelines to encourage the public to envision themselves performing hands-only CPR and improve CPR education for all people who need it.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are working to understand what viewers take away from TV depictions of CPR in order to collaborate with medical professionals and improve how CPR is portrayed on screen.
shows always get it wrong when it comes to accuracy on CPR, its kinda messed up that people think they need to give breaths or check pulses when all you gotta do is hands-only CPR 
it makes me so frustrated as a wellness guru cuz we need to spread the word about how easy and lifesaving it is to help someone in cardiac arrest.
meanwhile only 30% show hands-only cpr done correctly... it's like tv shows are trying to confuse us into not performing cpr at all? 
real-life stats say 62 is the avg age for cardiac arrest, but tv shows make it seem like 40s are the new norm 
. I mean, if you're not a trained responder, hands-only CPR is the way to go - no need to check for a pulse or give breaths. It's low effort and just as effective! TV shows should be more accurate, especially when it comes to something life-saving like cardiac arrest 
The fact that 58% of characters on TV get layperson CPR is already alarming enough - but when you add to that the inaccurate depictions of hands-only CPR, it's like they're basically setting us up for a failure. What if we take away from these shows and start thinking that we can just stand around and not check pulses? 
So, while we need accurate information, let's not forget the power of storytelling to inspire change. 
like, hands only cpr is defo the way to go, especially for people who dont know first aid. its wild that tv shows can have such a big impact on what ppl think is gonna happen in real life. for example, i saw an ep of er where they showed someone performing cpr on their kid and it was so convincing lol... but then i read about how rare that actually is in real life 
.
. would defo watch a show that accurately depicts cpr procedures 
. But at the same time, I'm all about getting the word out about CPR and how important it is, especially with the growing awareness around cardiac arrests 
. I mean, we need experts collaborating with each other and with TV shows to make sure our viewing habits aren't messing up our chances of saving a life in real life 
.
They always show the medical team rushing in and performing traditional CPR, but in reality, most people who have a cardiac arrest outside the hospital are more likely to get hands-only CPR from untrained rescuers. 
shows are basically teaching us that actors can just drop dead anywhere and suddenly get revived because some poor nurse happened to be walking by 
meanwhile real life people who actually need help rarely get CPR unless they're a pro athlete... it's like, hello reality check? 
especially since research is showing that it's actually making viewers wanna jump into action 
let's get the message straight about CPR and how to do it correctly 
but in real life it's not that simple 
it's so important for TV shows to get it right and promote accurate info especially since there are so many people watching