Comparison of a newly established emotional stimulus approach to a classical assessment-driven approach in BLS training: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: The study objective was to implement two strategies (short emotional stimulus vs announced practical assessment) in the teaching of resuscitation skills in order to evaluate whether one led to superior outcomes.

Setting: This study is an educational intervention provided in one German academic university hospital.

Participants: First-yearmedical students (n=271) during the first3 weeks of their studies.

Interventions: Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups following a sequence of random numbers: the emotional stimulus group (EG) and the assessment group (AG). In the EG, the intervention included watching an emotionally stimulating video prior to the Basic Life Support (BLS) course. In the AG, a practical assessment of the BLS algorithm was announced and tested within a 2 min simulated cardiac arrest scenario. After the baseline testing, a standardised BLS course was provided. Evaluation points were defined 1 week and 6 months after.

Primary outcome measures: Compression depth (CD) and compression rate (CR) were recorded as the primary endpoints for BLS quality.

Results: Within the study, 137 participants were allocated to the EG and 134 to the AG. 104 participants from EG and 120 from AG were analysed1 week after the intervention, where they reached comparable chest-compression performance without significant differences (CR P=0.49; CD P=0.28). The chest-compression performance improved significantly for the EG (P<0.01) and the AG (P<0.01) while adhering to the current resuscitation guidelines criteria for CD and CR.

Conclusions: There was no statistical difference between both groups' practical chest-compression-performance. Nevertheless, the 2 min video sequence used in the EG with its low production effort and costs, compared with the expensive assessment approach, provides broad opportunities for applicability in BLS training.

Keywords: assessment drives learning; basic life support (BLS); cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); emotional stimulus; external chest compression (ECC); standardised training.