This article describes the establishment of a program for the bereaved of sudden death in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department using a multi-disciplinary approach. Based on the traumatic grief model in tackling the psychosocial need of the bereaved, the detail from the first contact to their leaving of the hospital is covered. Practical protocols and guidelines are designed for guiding the assessment and intervention. Special issues are highlighted and controversy is discussed in this paper. These include breaking bad news, handling extreme grief reaction, the presence of relatives during resuscitation, volunteer involvement in the acute grief handling, and the outcome measures of the program.
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