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Introduction: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is an unexpected event that frequently renders patients incapacitated therefore requiring a surrogate decision maker (SDM) to act as a proxy. When exercising judgement under uncertainty, people engage in one of two cognitive processing styles (i.e., dual processing): “fast” processing - automatic and intuitive or “slow” processing - deliberative and rational. Understanding which style(s) SDMs use in making decisions for post-arrest patients is critical to ensuring that (1) patients’ wishes are respected and (2) evidence-based neuro-prognostication is supported.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of semi-structured interviews with SDMs for OHCA patients. Potential subjects were contacted 30 days after discharge/death. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two investigators thematically coded the transcripts. We conducted secondary …