Knowledge and attitude towards paediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation among the carers of patients attending the Emergency Department of the Children's Hospital at Westmead

Abstract

The present study aimed to describe the knowledge and attitudes of parents and carers in performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on infants and children. A self-administered questionnaire distributed to a convenience sample of parents and carers attending the Emergency Department of The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Australia from February to March 2008. Main outcome measures were the prevalence of previous cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, willingness and confidence to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on infants and children compared with adults, and an objective assessment of knowledge of current resuscitation guidelines. A total of 348 parents and carers were surveyed; 53% had received previous cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, 75% prior to the previous year. There was no significant difference on their willingness to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on an adult versus a child (75.6% and 75.8% respectively, P = 0.870). However, 81% were willing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a relative whereas only 64% were willing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a stranger (P < 0.001). Respondents were moderately confident in delivering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a collapsed child; mean score of 2.9 on 5-point Likert scale. Only 11% of respondents knew the correct rate for chest compressions and the ratio of compressions to ventilations; 8% had performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a real situation. Parents and carers are willing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, especially on family members. However, their knowledge of the current guidelines was poor. More public education is required to update those with previous training and to encourage those who haven't to be trained.

Knowledge of Medical Rescue Personnel Regarding Advanced Resuscitation Procedures in Children

“…Medical interventions made by medical rescue teams in cases of cardiac arrest are not rare [9][10][11]. Pos-sessing a broad knowledge of advanced resuscitation procedures, as well as skills in putting theory into practice by medical personnel, frequently determines the chances of a patient's survival.…”

Strengthening the Chain of Survival: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Workshop for Caregivers of Children at Risk

“…2 Research indicates that immediate and effective bystander CPR for victims of cardiac arrest improves survival, and knowledge of CPR guidelines increases the rate of bystander CPR. 3–5…”

Objective triage in the disaster setting: will children and expecting mothers be treated like others?

“…For any disaster patient, it has been observed how difficult it is for disaster medicine students to assign an adult victim a black card (too sick to resuscitate) next to others projected to survive (tagged red, yellow, or green) in simulated case scenarios 10. Assigning a black card to a child is still more difficult, as supported by the longer duration of code times when comparing pediatric resuscitation times to those of adults in nondisaster settings 11. The researchers suspect this to be partly due to a powerful emotional response toward children and partly due to a lack of training and experience triaging children in settings that may be overwhelming.…”