What Do Adolescents Learn from a 50 Minute Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/Automated External Defibrillator Education in a Rural Area: A Pre-Post Design.

Literature indicates that patients who receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) from bystanders have a greater chance of surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). A few evaluative studies involving CPR/AED education programs for rural adolescents have been initiated. This study aimed to examine the impact of a 50 min education program that combined CPR with AED training in two rural campuses. A quasi-experimental pre-post design was used. The 50 min CPR/AED training and individual performance using a Resusci Anne manikin was implemented with seventh grade students between August and December 2018. A total of 336 participants were included in this study. The findings indicated that the 50 min CPR/AED education program significantly improved participant knowledge of emergency responses ( < 0.001), correct actions at home ( < 0.01) and outside ( < 0.001) during an emergency, and willingness to perform CPR if necessary ( < 0.001). Many participants described that "I felt more confident to perform CPR/AED," and that "It reduces my anxiety and saves the valuable rescue time." The brief education program significantly improved the immediate knowledge of cardiac emergency in participants and empowered them to act as first responders when they witnessed someone experiencing a cardiac arrest. Further studies should consider the study design and explore the effectiveness of such brief programs.