Table 2.

Themes related to the medical dispatchers’ perceived benefits with adding visual information from closed-circuit television (CCTV) to handling of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs)

Themes and subthemes	Data excerpts/examples and medical dispatchers’ quotes
Improved understanding of the OHCA scenario
The victims’ condition and position	- “You would be able to see if he is breathing or has any movements and other things.” - “He is unable to breathe when he is held like that.”(…) “I thought he was lying down.” (…) - “Many bystanders say: ‘I cannot tell. I do not know.’ It would be a benefit to get your own eyes on the scene.” (The comment refers to bystanders’ descriptions of the patient’s condition).
The physical room/location	-“I have no idea of the setting. If I had known that he was lying in the doorway, I would have regimented that they pulled him away from the doorway, so they could get some space for working.” (…) “First I thought it was at the reception in another building (…). The ambulance drives to the wrong building.”
Bystanders’ response
-Bystanders helping/present	- “In this case two more persons are present without the caller mentioning them.”
-CPR performed	- “Only one person did CPR. It surprises me. That was not what I thought.” - “If the CPR should have been correct, the rate should have been faster.” - “I do not really know if they do compressions on thorax or in the stomach. I would be able to see that with these pictures.”
-Callers’ position	- “If I could have seen that caller was so far away from the victim (…). I would have asked caller to get closer to the victim. (…) The information I get is almost useless.”
Potential benefits for dispatcher-assisted CPR
Improved communication	- “It would be great to have visual contact. (…) It can be so difficult to know from just listening. Is what I ask about perceived correct? (…) Normally we use our eyes a lot when working in the field.” - “when you are not present, you do not know what is really going on unless you make the bystanders explain and confirm all the time. Are you doing this and that? You have to ask all the time.”
Improved guidance of bystanders/Dividing tasks among bystanders	- “I would be better to guide [with CCTV], because I can see what is really going on and what is not happening.” (…) “You can see if the bystanders do what you tell them to.” - “You can give more direct guidance when you do not use time trying to understand what is going on.” (…) “I could have seen that man. I was not aware of his presence. I could have said, ‘ask the man to help get the victim on the floor.’”
Quality CPR	- “The CPR quality could improve, because you could say ‘he has to press harder,’ or ‘now the woman who is just standing there has to take over.’” - “We need feedback all the time. For compression it is like, ‘Now! Now! Now!’ on the phone. We only get an instant image on the phone. We do not know the real rhythm.”