Kids save lives: a six-year longitudinal study of schoolchildren learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Who should do the teaching and will the effects last?

AIMS: This prospective longitudinal study over 6 years compared schoolteachers and emergency physicians as resuscitation trainers for schoolchildren. It also investigated whether pupils who were trained annually for 3 years retain their resuscitation skills after the end of this study.

METHODS: A total of 261 pupils (fifth grade) at two German grammar schools received resuscitation training by trained teachers or by emergency physicians. The annual training events stopped after 3 years in one group and continued for 6 years in a second group. We measured knowledge about resuscitation (questionnaire), chest compression rate (min(-1)), chest compression depth (mm), ventilation rate (min(-1)), ventilation volume (mL), self-efficacy (questionnaire). Their performance was evaluated after 1, 3 and 6 years.

RESULTS: The training events increased the pupils' knowledge and practical skills. When trained by teachers, the pupils achieved better results for knowledge (92.86% ± 8.38 vs. 90.10% ± 8.63, P=0.04) and ventilation rate (4.84/min ± 4.05 vs. 3.76/min ± 2.37, P=0.04) than when they were trained by emergency physicians. There were no differences with regard to chest compression rate, depth, ventilation volume, or self-efficacy at the end of the study. Knowledge and skills after 6 years were equivalent in the group with 6 years training compared with 3 years training.

CONCLUSIONS: Trained teachers can provide adequate resuscitation training in schools. Health-care professionals are not mandatory for CPR training (easier for schools to implement resuscitation training). The final evaluation after 6 years showed that resuscitation skills are retained even when training is interrupted for 3 years.