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

AimsThis 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsTrained 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.