A scoping review (inception to March 2026) of post-event support interventions for adult bystanders involved in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), aiming to identify and describe what interventions exist.
14 interventions were identified (11 from 16 peer-reviewed sources, 3 from grey literature); most emerged in the past decade in high-income Western countries, consisting primarily of information-giving and debriefing delivered on-scene, by phone, in person, or via digital platforms. Only 5 studies reported participant outcomes, 2 assessed psychological distress, and **no study evaluated intervention effectiveness**.
- No study evaluated intervention effectiveness, leaving a major evidence gap. - Most interventions originated in high-income Western countries, limiting generalisability. - Only 2 studies assessed psychological distress outcomes, making it impossible to draw conclusions about benefit or harm.
Support programs for OHCA bystanders are emerging but remain unevaluated — clinicians and EMS systems implementing these interventions should treat them as unproven and prioritise outcome measurement. Designs should include both information-giving and debriefing components, which are the most common elements currently used.
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