Resuscitation has radically changed the way we respond to cardiac arrest (the heart not pumping) but it hasn’t changed the reality that eventually, everyone dies. Presenting at the recent New Zealand Resuscitation Council Conference, Dr Natalie Anderson asked: What is the difference between cardiac arrest and death? And how do we continue to strengthen the chain of survival whilst also acknowledging that resuscitation is sometimes unwanted, unwarranted or unsuccessful?

Although often associated with life-saving actions, emergency ambulance care is also required by people with known life-limiting illness and those who are nearing the end of their life. Access to specialist palliative care may be limited at night, on weekends or in remote and rural areas. Family members play an essential role caring for those living their last days of life in the community, but their experiences of emergency ambulance care have received very little research attention, to-date. Our qualitative study explores 38 bereaved family members’ experiences of emergency ambulance care at the end of life.