Innovative cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator programs in schools: Results from the Student Program for Olympic Resuscitation Training in Schools (SPORTS) study

BackgroundBystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) rates are low. Our study objective was to encourage Philadelphia high school students to develop CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) training programs and to assess their efficacy. The focus was on developing innovative ways to learn the skills of CPR/AED use, increasing willingness to respond in an emergency, and retention of effective psychomotor resuscitation skills.Methods and resultsHealth education classes in 15 Philadelphia School District high schools were selected, with one Control and one Study Class per school. Both completed CPR/AED pre- and post-tests to assess cognitive knowledge and psychomotor skills. After pre-tests, both were taught CPR skills and AED use by their health teacher. Study Classes developed innovative programs to learn, teach, and retain CPR/AED skills. The study culminated with Study Classes competing in multiple CPR/AED skills events at the CPR/AED Olympic event. Outcomes included post-tests, Mock Code, and presentation scores. All students' cognitive and psychomotor skills improved with standard classroom education (p < 0.001). Competition with other schools at the CPR/AED Olympics and the development of their own student-directed education programs resulted in remarkable retention of psychomotor skill scores in the Study Class (88%) vs the Control Class (79%) (p < 0.001). Olympic participants averaged 93.1% on the Mock Code with 10 of 12 schools ≥94%.ConclusionStudents who developed creative and novel methods of teaching and learning resuscitation skills showed outstanding application of these skills in a Mock Code with remarkable psychomotor skill retention, potentially empowering a new generation of effectively trained CPR bystanders.