PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Background and Objectives: Sudden cardiac arrest remains a leading cause of death in industrialized nations, and early basic life support (BLS) is key for possible survival. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training can - and should - be already begun with schoolchildren [1]. We aimed to analyze whether e-learning can replace face-to-face training by measuring CPR knowledge and self-confidence in schoolchildren before and after the training.

Methods: This prospective, randomized study was approved by the local ethics committee, and registered at the German register for clinical studies (ID: DRKS00017707). 375 schoolchildren aged 10 to 15 years volunteered to participate and were assigned to two groups with different methods for BLS training: a traditional instructor-led teaching group where students received face-to-face teaching by a BLS instructor (45min), and an e-learning group where the students were able to make their theoretical BLS training using an e-learning module (15 min). BLS knowledge and self-confidence were measured and compared before (T0) and after the training (T1) using questionnaires. Practical training was face-to-face in both groups hereafter.

Results: Overall, 375 students volunteered to participate. Thirty-three students were removed from statistical analysis, because they did not attend both survey time-points (t0 and t1). Finally, 342 participants were included in statistical analysis (instructor-led group n=109; e-learning group n=233). Knowledge was comparable between the two training methods, except for the “high importance questions” that were higher after face-to-face BLS training (table 1 - is not given here).

Discussion and Conclusion: Educating school children in BLS has proven to be highly efficient [2], but is very demanding in terms of costs and personnel. An abbreviated CPR training combining an interactive self-education tool and practical hands-on training resulted in comparable learning results and is a cost-and time-effective solution for CPR training in schools.