ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Basic cardiac life support education for non-medical hospital employees
Department of Emergency Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Correspondence to:
Dr H G Song, Department of Emergency Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 135–710 Ilwon-Dong 50, Gangnam-Ku, Seoul, Korea; cprking{at}skku.edu
Background: The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) recommends that strategies should be implemented that promote cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in the workplace. Non-medical employees at a hospital were therefore trained to conduct basic life support (BLS). Subject background information, test results and survey findings were examined and factors affecting BLS skill acquisition were studied.
Methods: Of 1432 non-medical employees at a hospital trained to conduct BLS, 880 agreed to participate in the survey. The training course consisted of a single session of 3 h of lectures, practice and testing. Skill acquisition was assessed using a 13-item skill checklist and a 5-point overall competency scale. The effects of age, gender, type of job, educational status, a previous history of CPR training and level of subject-perceived training difficulty were examined.
Results: According to total checklist scores, subjects achieved a mean (SD) score of 8.66 (3.57). 22.3% performed all 13 skills. Based on 5-point overall competency ratings, 43.7% of subjects were rated as "competent", "very good" or "outstanding". Age (<40 years and
40 years) was the only factor that significantly affected skill acquisition (skill acquisition by those
40 years of age was poorer than by those aged <40 years).
Conclusion: Traditional BLS training is less effective in individuals aged
40 years.
Relevant Article
- Primary survey
- Jonathan Wyatt
Emerg. Med. J. 2009 26: 313.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
