Table 2 Perception of the emergency hospital admission

Shocked, scared and out of control

 “This was the most significant emotional event in my life” …“a wake-up call”. “It hit me square in the head”…“not being invincible was the biggest shock” (Participant 15)

  “The guy upstairs flips the switch” …. “What am I doing here?” (Participant 14)

  “I’m from a family of events and this was definitely not an event: it was an attack”. “I felt like a deflated balloon when it happened” (Participant 18)

Rapidly unfolding interventions

  “I guess I don’t know why it was decided to admit me”….“I zipped away upstairs to the heart unit” (Participant 19)

  “Things went really fast” … “(they) hooked me up to everything” (Participant 17)

  “(I was) treated as number one priority” (Participant 12)