This scoping review set out to locate and integrate the current body of research concerning emotional expressions and reactions during emergency telephone contacts with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The review sought to identify studies that (1) described emotional features present in OHCA-related emergency calls; (2) outlined any tools or procedures used to evaluate or measure emotions; and (3) explored links between emotional factors and call or patient outcomes. Searches were performed on 18 November 2021 across five databases: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Review Database. To be eligible, studies had to address all three core concepts: emotions, EMS emergency calls, and OHCA. Calls also needed to be initiated by a second-party caller, and each study had to meet at least one of the three predefined objectives. The review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping evidence syntheses. Thirteen studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All addressed Objective 1; six satisfied Objective 2; and seven met Objective 3. One publication noted a fatal patient outcome associated with intense emotional expression and resulting communication breakdown between the caller and the call-taker. The synthesis reveals a substantial lack of evidence regarding emotional dynamics during OHCA-related EMS calls and emphasizes the need for better frameworks to identify and evaluate such emotions. Further high-quality research is required to clarify how emotional states—both expressed and perceived—interact with call processes and patient outcomes.
