PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Stijn Van de Velde
AU  - Ann Roex
AU  - Karoline Vangronsveld
AU  - Lidewij Niezink
AU  - Koen Van Praet
AU  - Annemie Heselmans
AU  - Peter Donceel
AU  - Philippe Vandekerckhove
AU  - Dirk Ramaekers
AU  - Bert Aertgeerts
TI  - Can training improve laypersons helping behaviour in first aid? A randomised controlled deception trial
AID  - 10.1136/emermed-2012-201128
DP  - 2013 Apr 01
TA  - Emergency Medicine Journal
PG  - 292--297
VI  - 30
IP  - 4
4099  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/30/4/292.short
4100  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/30/4/292.full
SO  - Emerg Med J2013 Apr 01; 30
AB  - Background There is limited evidence indicating that laypersons trained in first aid provide better help, but do not help more often than untrained laypersons. This study investigated the effect of conventional first aid training versus conventional training plus supplementary training aimed at decreasing barriers to helping. Methods The authors conducted a randomised controlled trial. After 24 h of conventional first aid training, the participants either attended an experimental lesson to reduce barriers to helping or followed a control lesson. The authors used a deception test to measure the time between the start of the unannounced simulated emergency and seeking help behaviour and the number of particular helping actions. Results The authors randomised 72 participants to both groups. 22 participants were included in the analysis for the experimental group and 36 in the control group. The authors found no statistically or clinically significant differences for any of the outcome measures. The time until seeking help (geometrical mean and 95% CI) was 55.5 s (42.9 to 72.0) in the experimental group and 56.5 s (43.0 to 74.3) in the control group. 57% of the participants asked a bystander to seek help, 40% left the victim to seek help themselves and 3% did not seek any help. Conclusion Supplementary training on dealing with barriers to helping did not alter the helping behaviour. The timing and appropriateness of the aid provided can be improved. Trial registration The authors registered this trial at ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT00954161.