Elsevier

Resuscitation

Volume 45, Issue 2, July 2000, Pages 77-82
Resuscitation

Lay CPR trainees: retraining, confidence and willingness to attempt resuscitation 4 years after training

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0300-9572(00)00170-2Get rights and content

Abstract

Two independent samples of 800 lay CPR trainees from an original cohort of 7584 were surveyed postally 4 years after training. Only 2% of respondents had used CPR, but 92 had used other aspects of their life support training. Those who had retrained were more confident than those who had not and 89% of those who had not retrained were willing to do so. More than 80% expressed willingness to perform full CPR on casualties who were unknown to them, but this fell to 40% where facial blood was present and 48% where the victim was a gay man.

Introduction

In the field of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) there is abundant evidence of rapid deterioration in skill when assessed by observation and/or manikin printout [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. These reports, together with reluctance to perform mouth-to-mouth (MTM) ventilation have led to radical re-thinking on instruction for lay people. The American Heart Association recently advocated further research into the degree of emphasis given to ventilation [7]. Evidence of reluctance to perform MTM comes mainly from the USA where it has been demonstrated in research with hospital staff [8], [9] and ambulance personnel [10]. In contrast, similar research with male homosexuals showed that they were more willing to perform mouth-to-mouth than were health care professionals [11].

The prevalence of HIV infection is higher in the USA, and perceived risk of transmission may be greater than elsewhere, but the need to address the issue in European life support classes has been recognised [12]. Whilst medical scientists recognise that the risk of transmission of HIV and other infectious diseases during MTM is low [13], some would still advocate the use of barrier devices [14].

This study examines retraining, confidence and attitudes to MTM in UK lay volunteers. The subjects attended a 2-h mass training session 4 years ago and showed poor skill retention 6 months after training [15]. At that time only 7% of a random sample tested with no prior warning demonstrated an ability to perform CPR in a manner that was judged to be both safe and effective.

Section snippets

Method

Two independent random samples of 800, drawn from those of the original training cohort who had given written consent to take part in further research (81%), were surveyed 4 years after training. One sample was mailed a simple questionnaire (Appendix A) asking if they had used their resuscitation skills or any other emergency life support skills that had been taught on the original course. Respondents were asked if they had attended a subsequent CPR course and, if so, which organisation had

Questionnaire 1

The response rate was 52% (416 questionnaires) comprising of 58% from the first mailing, 33% from the second mailing and 9% telephone interviews. No one refused the telephone interview. There were no statistically significant differences between the replies from the three sources. Most respondents answered all questions. Only 10 (2%) respondents had used CPR since training: eight reported using compressions and ventilations and two had used compressions only. More than half of the volunteers

Discussion

The response rate for both these questionnaires was fairly low, but not unusually so for current postal research, which has to compete for attention with a variety of commercial consumer surveys. Some recently published reports of postal studies show response rates as low as 33% from GPs [16] and 45% from midwives [17] on topics directly related to their practice. To estimate whether non-responders to the postal survey were likely to answer differently, the questionnaire was administered to a

References (20)

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  • Comparison of chest compression only and standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Singapore

    2008, Resuscitation
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    Recently, chest compression only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CC-CPR) without ventilation has been proposed as an alternative to standard CPR for bystanders.4 Proponents of CC-CPR argue that it overcomes bystander reluctance to carry out mouth-to-mouth ventilation,5–13 and is simpler to teach,14–16 especially when giving instructions to an untrained bystander over the phone.17–20 It may also result in fewer interruptions to chest compressions.21–24

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1

David Assar died on 26th September 1999.

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