Context: In addition to heart massage, the primary goal of cardiopulmonary resuscitation is efficient oxygenation and ventilation.
Objective: To compare the ease of learning and handling of standard mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with the Combitube (Tyco Healthcare Nellcor, Pleasanton, CA) ventilation.
Methods: After a 30 minute theoretical introduction and demonstration of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and use of the Combitube in mannequins, following American Heart Association guidelines, 26 adolescent school children (15 of them 14 years old, 11 of them 10 years old) undertook two ventilation trials, each consisting of five single ventilations, with each technique. Only the second trial with each technique was evaluated. Qualitative implementation (grades: very good, good, failed) was evaluated, several procedure-related time points were recorded, and tidal volumes (ml) were measured.
Results: With mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the time interval until start of first ventilation was 36.5 seconds shorter than with the Combitube (P < 0.001). With the Combitube, the time needed for five single ventilations was 6.4 seconds less than with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (P < 0.001) and mean tidal volumes were higher (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, 450 +/- 384 ml, versus Combitube, 735 +/- 358 ml; P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Most of the school children performed both techniques to a high qualitative level. The study shows that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and use of the Combitube have equal ease of learning, a precondition for proficient retention of skills. Tidal volumes were significantly higher with the Combitube and, not surprisingly, the time interval until the start of first ventilation was significantly shorter with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Regardless of the ventilation technique or device, we believe that subsequent retraining of ventilation skills is very important.