Basic Life Support
Conditions
Keywords
Basic Life Support, Education, Medical, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Learning
Brief summary
Attrition of skills after basic life support (BLS) training is common. Psychology studies have established that for basic memory recall tasks, spaced learning strategies improve retention. Spaced learning is often organized as a refresher or 'booster' course after initial training. This study aims to investigate if this principle holds true for BLS skills, which require rapid memory recall and efficient deployment of procedural skills while under time pressure.
Detailed description
Novice laypeople who have not received BLS training in the 6 months leading up to the date of participation will be recruited from the University of Ottawa and the general public. Participants will be randomized into one of three groups: early booster, late booster, or no booster (control). Currently, no booster is the educational standard. The early booster group will receive a booster at 3 weeks, the late booster at 2 months, and no booster for the control. All participants will undergo BLS training, an immediate post-test, and a retention post-test at 4 months. Post-tests involve a simulated cardiac arrest scenario. Raters will be blinded to the group allocation and simulation test order.
Interventions
The early booster group will receive a booster teaching session at 3 weeks post-training followed by feedback.
The late booster group will receive a booster teaching session at 2 months post-training followed by feedback
Sponsors
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Laypeople who have not received any BLS training or practice in the 6 months leading up to the date of their participation will be recruited.
Exclusion criteria
* Under 18 years old; * Non layperson and Basic Life Training in less than 6 months.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Life Support performance, as measured by the standardized Heart and Stroke Heartsaver checklist | 4 months | BLS performance, as measured by the standardized Heart and Stroke Heartsaver checklist |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy of compression depth | 4 months | Percentage of compressions that are deep enough |
| Compression ratio | 4 months | The percentage of time during the scenario that compressions are done |
| Hand position | 4 months | The percentage of time the hand position is correct |
| Time to start chest compression; | 4 months | Time from entering the scene to initiation of compression (in seconds) |
| Ventilation success rate | 4 months | The percentage of time ventilations are done with adequate volume 400-700mls |
| Time to defibrillation using AED. | 4 months | Time from start to defibrillation using AED (in seconds) |
| Tidal volume | 4 months | Mean tidal volume (ml) |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed