INTRODUCTION

During basic life support (BLS) training, instructors assess learners' cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills and correct errors to ensure high-quality performance. This study aimed to investigate certified BLS instructors' assessments of CPR skills.

METHODS

Data were collected at BLS courses for medical students at Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. Two certified BLS instructors evaluated each learner with a cardiac arrest test scenario, where learners demonstrated CPR on a resuscitation manikin for 3.5 minutes. Instructors' assessments were compared with manikin data as reference for correct performance. The first 3 CPR cycles were analyzed. Correct chest compressions were defined as 2 or more of 3 CPR cycles with 30 ± 2 chest compressions, 50 to 60 mm depth, and 100 to 120 min rate. Correct rescue breaths were defined as 50% or more efficient breaths with visible, but not excessive manikin chest inflation (for instructors) or 500 to 600mL air (manikin data).

RESULTS

Overall, 90 CPR assessments were performed by 16 instructor pairs. Instructors passed 81 (90%) learners, whereas manikin pass rate was 2%. Instructors identified correct chest compressions with a sensitivity of 0.96 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.79-1) and a specificity of 0.05 (95% CI = 0.01-0.14), as well as correct rescue breaths with a sensitivity of 1 (95% CI = 0.40-1) and a specificity of 0.07 (95% CI = 0.03-0.15). Instructors mistakenly failed 1 learner with adequate chest compression depth, while passing 53 (59%) learners with improper depth. Moreover, 80 (89%) improper rescue breath performances were not identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Certified BLS instructors assess CPR skills poorly. Particularly, improper chest compression depth and rescue breaths are not identified.