by Jennifer Chap, BS and Patricia O’Gorman, Ph.D.
We all live interconnected in families, friendships, communities, within our own unique social systems. So, when tragedy happens to someone in our life, we feel it.
Whether you are a passerby who sees a neighbor collapse, calls 9-1-1, and begins CPR, a parent whose teenager is in the ER after a crash, or the partner of someone who is critically ill in the ICU, you are affected. You may feel shock, your heart racing as fear and uncertainty take hold. You are the “invisible patient” feeling alone and suffering in silence.
We are all connected
Immediately, you face many decisions about your responsibilities—children, work, pets—so you can be with your loved one.
Eventually, they will hopefully be discharged home, but that may be just a new beginning.
Once discharged, your loved one’s care falls to you to manage, support, and champion, while continuing to function in other areas of your life.
You are more than a caregiver
We often use the term “caregiver” for this new status, but “caregiver” does not go far enough. You and your loved one experienced the medical event from different perspectives. Your loved one is the survivor. And you are the co-survivor.
Co-survivor is a powerful new identifier that makes you visible to yourself and others. It empowers you to see your own trauma stemming from your loved one’s medical challenges. You may need support to stay healthy for yourself, your survivor, and the other loved ones in your life.
Finding your new normal
For many, the co-survivor job description looks something like this:
- Manage medications
- Care for surgical wounds
- Monitor vitals
- Schedule appointments, transport, and handle insurance
- Manage nutrition
- Lift, dress, shower, etc.
- Problem-solve and encourage
This is daunting. But science-backed support models can guide your next steps in caring for your own needs so that you can care for your loved one.
Below are two support systems: one new, the other 75 years old. The development of both included people with lived experience.
Cardiac arrest can affect anyone
The world was shocked in 2023 when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) on live TV. Coaches, players, fans, and 23 million viewers watched in horror as staff performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and used an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to resuscitate him.
What most don’t realize: SCA strikes 1,000 people outside of U.S. hospitals daily, yet only one in 10 survives (Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival [CARES], 2026). Survival depends on bystander action: calling 9-1-1 , starting CPR immediately, and, if available, applying an AED. Often, family members become lay rescuers, as most SCAs (71%) happen at home.
For decades, the aftermath of SCA went unrecognized, leaving those affected to process this existential experience alone. Recently, the medical community made a major shift in acknowledging SCA’s impact. In 2020, the American Heart Association published a groundbreaking statement on SCA survivorship, identifying the need for post-hospital-discharge physical, cognitive, and psychological support for survivors and co-survivors, as well as bereaved families and lay rescuers (Sawyer et al., 2020).
Among co-survivors, the greatest unmet need is information about cardiac arrest, per an NIH-supported study of 550 co-survivors (Agarwal, Chap et al., 2024a). This echoes the broader lack of public awareness and understanding around SCA, CPR, and AEDs (Newman, Chap et al., 2018).
Discovering this gap led to the creation of free online educational resources. One such resource connects co-survivors affected by this life-altering event to trusted information that orients and empowers them (Resuscitation Council US, 2023). Co-designed by healthcare professionals, researchers, and people with lived experience, informational blog-like articles combine lay-friendly information with insights from co-survivors who lived it.
Since launching in 2023, this resource has reached 80,000-plus people in more than 200 countries. Preliminary NIH-supported trial data show that, three months post-discharge, co-survivors who used it had significantly less uncertainty, fewer PTSD symptoms, and lower caregiver burden than those receiving standard care (Agarwal et al., 2024b).
SCA and addiction are surprisingly connected
A striking statistic is that adults who overdosed represented 4.5% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the U.S. in 2025 (CARES, 2026). This figure jumps to 27% among young adults aged 19-34.
But the overdoses, car crashes, and organ failures are often preceded by years of co-survivors witnessing someone they care about becoming more and more ill with a variety of health issues, as they scramble to try to keep their loved one together.
Importantly, these co-survivors have an advantage in tapping resources that have been developing for the past 75 years.
Al-Anonoffers free 24/7 in-person and virtual support groups in over 100 countries and literature for adults and teens affected by a loved one’s addiction, be it a parent, sibling, partner, child, or friend. Al–Anon was founded 75 years ago by individuals with lived experience, impacted by the addiction of a loved one. They realized that they needed support from others who understood this. They developed mutual support groups of peers who share their experience, strength, and hope in facing the challenges of co-survivorship.
Meetings offer a highly structured discussion, led by a group member, not a mental health professional. Each participant, in turn, shares on the topic being discussed. There is no crosstalk—that is, no conversation. Instead, there is personal sharing on a topic (O’Gorman, 2024). This produces validation of an individual’s experience, in which the healing power of being seen and understood by others who have had similar experiences reduces shame and isolation (The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 2026).
Does it work? Al–Anon has been conducting member research for over 40 years. In their 2024 survey, Al–Anon found that 80% of respondents reported improved mental health within the first year (Al–Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., 2024). Among those attending four years or more, this figure jumps to 91%. These results indicate that supporting co-survivors is effective.
Moving forward
If you are a co-survivor, understand that you have been invisible for too long. Realize that you deserve support—in fact, you need it. Seek out information and community that can be accessed in person, virtually, or online.
You were never just a caregiver. You are a co-survivor—in it together with your loved one, hand in hand.
The co-authors co-chair the HOPE Critical Care Collaborative (Trauma Division, APA).
Jennifer Chap, BS, is a co-survivor/lay rescuer whose husband survived SCA. She is a speaker, author, and researcher, and a founding member of Heartsight and a member of the Medical Trauma Recovery Alliance. She also chairs the Orange County (Florida) CPR AED subcommittee and co-founded BuddyCPR and StrataVerve, a strategic marketing practice.
Patricia O’Gorman, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a virtual practice, a trauma and addiction specialist, a life coach, and the author of nine books, numerous articles, and an international speaker. She is co-founder and Advisory Board Member of The National Association for Children of Addiction.
