The aim of this study was to value the opinions and perspective of health care professionals for the practice of family presence in the emergency setting. We conducted an interview with 328 doctors and nurses of Intensive Care (ICU), Emergency Department and ambulance emergency service (118) about the presence of family during the maneuvers and procedures in the setting of emergency.
We found some differences in the 3 different operative units, with considerably greater presence of family members in the context of emergency ambulance service.
The majority of respondents stated that it is not customary to allow family members to attend the maneuvers. 88% of them declared little acceptance of family members during resuscitation or invasive procedures.
92% showed to be aware of the lack of operational protocols and clear rules for the family presence in the different emergency settings.