Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills in Secondary School Students Participating in a Brief Compression-only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillation Course

Abstract Description

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Authors (including presenting author) :

So KY(1), Ko HF(1)(2), Lai KWV(2), Tsui SYC(2), Lee A(2)

Affiliation :

(1) Accident and Emergency Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, HKSAR (2) Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Introduction :

Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can significantly improve rates of survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest. However, the rate of bystander CPR and AED use in Hong Kong is low. While the Guidelines of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation(2003) strongly recommended the inclusion of Basic Life Support (BLS) in the school curriculum, there is limited time available in current school curriculums.

Objectives :

Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can significantly improve rates of survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest. However, the rate of bystander CPR and AED use in Hong Kong is low. While the Guidelines of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation(2003) strongly recommended the inclusion of Basic Life Support (BLS) in the school curriculum, there is limited time available in current school curriculums.

Methodology :

After ethics committee approval, we conducted a prospective study of 128 secondary school studentsaged between 12-15 years at fourschools during the academic year of 2018/2019. Our course was based onthe lesson plan, 5-item multiple choice knowledge test, teaching video and training material, and a CPR/AED skill-based practical test from the American Heart Association “CPR in School Training Kit TM”. We also used a validated and reliable questionnaire (10-item Likert scale responses) to measure the students’ attitudes towards bystander CPR and AED. The responses were added up to give a score ranging from 10 to 30, with higher scores representing a more positive attitude. The median (interquartile range) is reported for each continuous variable after checking for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk’s test. The proportion and associated 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of students passing the immediate practical test is reported.

Result & Outcome :

None of the students had received BLS training before participating in our course. Students showed a very positive attitude towards CPR training as shown by the high median attitude score (28, 26 to 29). The median number of correct responses to the 5-item knowledge questionnaire was 3 (2 to 4).The median time to first shock was 65 (58 to 76) seconds. The overall passing rate for correctly performing CO-CPRAED on a manikin was 77.3% (95% CI: 69.5% to 84.0%).The results showed that most students can acquire a high level of CPR and AED performance skills in a brief 2-hour course.