Compression-only CPR training in elementary schools and student attitude toward CPR.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effectiveness of systematic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for elementary school children. METHODS: We introduced systematic training of chest compression-only CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) use to elementary school students aged 10-12 years at 17 schools. The questionnaire compared student attitudes towards CPR and their knowledge about it before and after CPR training. We also evaluated parent and teacher views about CPR training in school education. The primary outcome was positive attitude, defined as "yes" and "maybe yes" on a 5 point Likert-type scale of student attitudes towards CPR.1 RESULTS: A total of 2047 elementary school students received CPR training. Of them, 1899 (92.8%) responded to the questionnaire regarding their attitude towards CPR before and after the training. Before training, 50.2% answered "yes" and 30.3% answered "maybe yes", to the question: "If someone suddenly collapses in front of you, can you do something such as check response or call emergency?" After training, their answers changed to 75.6% and 18.3% for "yes" and "maybe yes", respectively. Many of the students (72.3%, 271/370) who did not have a positive attitude before CPR training had a positive attitude after the training (P < 0.001). Most students understood how to perform CPR (97.7%) and use an AED (98.5%). Parents (96.2%, 1173/1220) and teachers (98.3%, 56/57) answered that it was "good" and "maybe good" for children to receive the training at elementary schools. CONCLUSION: Systematic chest compression-only CPR training helped elementary school students to improve their attitude towards CPR.

Community-Wide Dissemination of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator Use Using a 45-Minute Chest Compression-Only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training.

Background Little is known about whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR ) training can increase bystander CPR in the community or the appropriate target number of CPR trainings. Herein, we aimed to demonstrate community-wide aggressive dissemination of CPR training and evaluate temporal trends in bystander CPR . Methods and Results We provided CPR training (45-minute chest compression-only CPR plus automated external defibrillator use training or the conventional CPR training), targeting 16% of residents. All emergency medical service-treated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of medical origin were included. Data on patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and bystander CPR quality were prospectively collected from September 2010 to December 2015. The primary outcome was the proportion of high-quality bystander CPR . During the study period, 57 173 residents (14.7%) completed the chest compression-only CPR training and 32 423 (8.3%) completed conventional CPR training. The proportion of bystander CPR performed did not change (from 43.3% in 2010 to 42.0% in 2015; P for trend=0.915), but the proportion of high-quality bystander CPR delivery increased from 11.7% in 2010 to 20.7% in 2015 ( P for trend=0.015). The 1-year increment was associated with high-quality bystander CPR (adjusted odds ratio, 1.461; 95% CI, 1.055-2.024). Bystanders who previously experienced CPR training were 3.432 times (95% CI, 1.170-10.071) more likely to perform high-quality CPR than those who did not. Conclusions We trained 23.0% of the residents in the medium-sized city of Osaka, Japan, and demonstrated that the proportion of high-quality CPR performed on the scene increased gradually, whereas that of bystander CPR delivered overall remained stable.