School children training for basic life support.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the background knowledge of high school children on basic life support by calculating the points scored in a MCQ-based test; to evaluate results of teaching basic life support skills to them; and assessing their power of retention by re-testing them on skills and MCQ test after the workshop.

STUDY DESIGN: Quasi-experimental study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology and National Institute of Heart Diseases, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from 1st September to 31st December 2008.

METHODOLOGY: Thirty children aged 11 - 15 years from 9 different schools of Rawalpindi were subjected to knowledge and skill based test at three different times. First was taken just after brief introduction to the subject of CPR and its related definitions, second after providing them hands-on CPR training, and last, after 3 months of CPR training, knowledge as well as CPR skills were tested.

RESULTS: The children showed highly significant improvement in knowledge after CPR training and retention of knowledge and skills of CPR after 3 months period. There was no correlation of age, gender and weight to depth of compression and fatigue. There was a correlation between height and depth of compression.

CONCLUSION: Children can learn and perform basic life support skills with reasonable accuracy and can retain these skills for longer periods. CPR training should be provided to all school children after 6th grade.