The anecdotal experiences and reports from survivors of cardiac arrest are diverse, yet frequently describe common themes. Detailed memories, “near death experiences” of entering another world, and sights and sounds from the arrest context are frequently reported. And, what better place to collect cardiac arrest events than in a hospital?
As one might imagine, the population available for such interviews is rather limited – so it requires a massive undertaking, in this case, a four-year prospective evaluation across 15 hospitals in the U.S., UK, and Austria. Essentially, the local investigator at each institution received notification of every adult, in-hospital cardiac arrest. Survivors were identified and interviews conducted as soon as feasible, given continued comorbid illness.
Out of 2,060 cardia arrests, only 330 were eligible for study inclusion. Investigators conducted 140 interviews – and only 55 had any memories. Of these, 53 had detailed memories, whether unrelated or classic “crossing-over” phenomena – but nothing relating to the circumstances of their arrest event. Only two patients had detailed memories of the circumstances of their event – one set of memories was not able to be verified, but the authors were able to fully verify the other set of memories by interview of the resuscitation staff.
So, essentially, very rarely do patients have any recollection of their arrest event.
Interestingly, one part of this study attempted to verify the veracity of the “floating above and watching” aspect of some individual’s arrest recollections. The authors constructed shelves in areas thought most likely to have cardiac arrest, and then placed objects on the shelf that would only be visible from a perspective near the room ceiling. Unfortunately, 70% of the cardiac arrests in this study occurred in locations where there were no shelves, including both arrests with detailed recollection.
“AWARE—AWAreness during REsuscitation—A prospective study”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25301715