Learning to resuscitate at school. Study in 8-12 year-old schoolchildren

Abstract

Objective: To quantitatively assess the learning capacity of school children aged between 8-12 years in basic life support (theory and practice) after a feasible school training programme.

Material and methods: Quasi-experimental study with a convenience sample of 567 pupils in 3rd and 5th year of Primary Education, and first year of Compulsory Secondary Education, from 3 public schools in Galicia. They received 2h (one theoretical and another practical) of basic life support training by their Physical Education teachers, as part of the school program. The children were evaluated by a theoretical test and a practical skill test that measured the quality of chest compressions, and assessed the performance of the basic life support sequence.

Results: The level of knowledge increased with respect to the baseline, and was higher in the higher grades (P < .001). The complete basic life support sequence was carried out by 16.5% of pupils in the 3rd year of Primary Education, 54.4% of pupils in the 5th year of Primary Education, and 28.5% of pupils in the 1st year of Secondary Education (P = .030). The following compression quality parameters improved significantly with age: continuity of compressions (P < .001), percentage of compressions performed at correct depth (P = .002), and median depth (P < .001), while the percentage of compressions with correct decompression decreased significantly (P < .001).

Conclusions: Although their anthropometric characteristics may not allow them to achieve the ideal quality of this manoeuvre, a 2h theoretical and practical training programme, taught by Physical Education teachers, helps to improve the ability of children younger than 13 years old to recognise the emergency, start the chain of survival, and initiate chest compressions.

Keywords: Basic life support; Calidad de las compresiones torácicas; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Enseñanza; Escolares; Learning; Quality of chest compression; Reanimación cardiopulmonar básica; Schoolchildren; Soporte vital básico.