Effects of real-time audiovisual feedback on secondary-school students’ performance of chest compressions

Objective.

To describe the quality of chest compressions performed by secondary-school students trained with a realtime audiovisual feedback system.

Methods.

The learners were 167 students aged 12 to 15 years who had no prior experience with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). They received an hour of instruction in CPR theory and practice and then took a 2-minute test, performing hands-only CPR on a child mannequin (Prestan Professional Child Manikin). Lights built into the mannequin gave learners feedback about how many compressions they had achieved and clicking sounds told them when compressions were deep enough.

Results.

All the learners were able to maintain a steady enough rhythm of compressions and reached at least 80% of the targeted compression depth. Fewer correct compressions were done in the second minute than in the first (P=.016).

Conclusions.

Real-time audiovisual feedback helps schoolchildren aged 12 to 15 years to achieve quality chest compressions on a mannequin.