Teaching basic life support to school children using medical students and teachers in a 'peer-training' model--results of the 'ABC for life' programme.

BACKGROUND

The 'ABC for life' programme was designed to facilitate the wider dissemination of basic life support (BLS) skills and knowledge in the population. A previous study demonstrated that using this programme 10-12-year olds are capable of performing and retaining these vital skills when taught by medical students. There are approximately 25,000 year 7 school children in 900 primary schools in Northern Ireland. By using a pyramidal teaching approach involving medical students and teachers, there is the potential to train BLS to all of these children each year.

AIMS

To assess the effectiveness of a programme of CPR instruction using a three-tier training model in which medical students instruct primary school teachers who then teach school children.

SETTINGS

School children and teachers in the Western Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland.

METHODS

A course of instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)--the 'ABC for life' programme--specifically designed to teach 10-12-year-old children basic life support skills. Medical students taught teachers from the Western Education and Library Board area of Northern Ireland how to teach basic life support skills to year 7 pupils in their schools. Pupils were given a 22-point questionnaire to assess knowledge of basic life support immediately before and after a teacher led training session.

RESULTS

Children instructed in cardiopulmonary resuscitation using this three-tier training had a significantly improved score following training (57.2% and 77.7%, respectively, p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that primary school teachers, previously trained by medical students, can teach BLS effectively to 10-12-year-old children using the 'ABC for life' programme.