Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training. Consequences for family members of high-risk cardiac patients

Part 14: Education

“…There are many studies evaluating the effectiveness of BLS training in family members and/or caregivers of high-risk cardiac patients, including some that measure the frequency at which CPR is performed by family members 125,[139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147] ; their retention of knowledge, skills, and adequacy of performance 125,139,140,142,148,149 ; and the survival rates of cardiac arrest victims receiving CPR from family members. 66,139,140,142,[150][151][152][153] Despite the heterogeneity and generally low quality, these studies consistently showed high scores for CPR performance in those who were trained compared with those who were untrained.…”

“…66,139,140,142,[150][151][152][153] Despite the heterogeneity and generally low quality, these studies consistently showed high scores for CPR performance in those who were trained compared with those who were untrained. Most studies examining retention of skills showed a decline in CPR performance over time without retraining.…”

Part 8: Education, Implementation, and Teams

“…[60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] Existing evidence on educational outcomes suggest likely rescuers are willing to be trained, 63,[71][72][73][74][75][76][77] are likely to share training with others, 71,74,75,[78][79][80] are unlikely to seek training on their own, 63,79 and, after training, are competent in BLS skills and/or knowledge. 33,71,73,74,78,[81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90] For the critical outcomes of survival with favorable neurologic outcome at discharge and ROSC, we have identified low-quality evidence (downgraded for risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision) from 3 RCTs 60,61,64 and very-low-quality evidence (downgraded for risk of bias) from 8 non-RCTs.…”

“…60,61,64 One study reported 4 out-of-hospital deaths in 65 adult cardiac patients at 6 months (2/24 in the control group and 2/41 in the CPRtrained group). 61 A larger study, which was subject to high loss to follow-up, documented 13 OHCA events among high-risk children within 12 months after training of parents and other caretakers; all of these children were successfully resuscitated, and all were in the trained groups, with no events reported in the control group. 64 The third RCT reported 71 OHCA events in the home among 7001 adult high-risk patients with training (CPR or CPR with AED); survival was 12%, with an indirect…”

Understanding and improving low bystander CPR rates: a systematic review of the literature

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] The estimated rate of CPR training in this target group ranges between 9% and 47%. [56][57][58][59][60][61] Although the addition of counselling to deal with the stress associated with being a potential CPR provider may be required, 62,63 CPR training has been shown to reduce anxiety and increase emotional adjustment and the sense of empowerment in family members of cardiac arrest survivors. [64][65][66] Family members of individuals with cardiac disease should be trained in CPR.…”