It isn’t like this on TV: Revisiting CPR survival rates depicted on popular TV shows

Am I Dying Doctor?": How End-Of-Life Care is Portrayed in Television Medical Dramas

“…However, a previous study showed that in movies dealing with life-threatening illness and death the level of reality is limited [20]. Furthermore, a recent study demonstrated that discussions about ACP rarely occur in television medical dramas [21].…”

How Do Medicalization and Rescue Fantasy Prevent Healthy Dying?

“…One study found that the immediate survival rate for television CPR was about 70%, which is much higher than the immediate survival rate of 37%-61% in reality. 4 Of adult patients who are revived with CPR, only about a quarter survive to hospital discharge. 5 Indeed, one study suggests that depictions of trauma patients in the television show Grey's Anatomy might create false expectations among a general audience.…”

Exploring patients’ and healthcare professionals’ experiences of patient‐witnessed resuscitation: A qualitative study protocol

“…Although depicting CPR on television may initially have helped the public familiarizing with the fact that such events may occur in hospital (Grice, Picton, & Deakin, ; Hadfield‐Law, ), recent studies showed that the portrayal of CPR on television is still far from reality. Considering that the public is significantly influenced by medical TV series, this may link to falsely high expectations of short and long‐term success of CPR, to misinformed public CPR knowledge and may influence care decisions (Alismail, Meyer, Almutairi, & Daher, ; Colwill et al., ; Harris & Willoughby, ; Portanova, Irvine, Yi, & Enguidanos, ). Nonetheless, as reminded by Köberich (), our view on those affected by witnessing resuscitation is still narrow.…”