570 - Teach Me CPR: A Pilot Study on CPR Training in Public Middle Schools

Poster Number: 570
Publication Number: 570.240

Roshni Patel, Northwell, LONG ISLAND CITY, NY, United States; Adenike Animasaun, Northwell Health, Queens, NY, United States; Sarah Khan, Cohen Children's Medical Center, New York, NY, United States; Cassidy B. Psihos, Cohen Children's Medical Center, Northport, NY, United States; Joanna Fishbein, Northwell Health, Plainview, NY, United States; Monica Shekher-Kapoor, Northwell Health, roslyn Harbor, NY, United States

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented number of out-of-hospital arrests with significantly lower survival rates. In these times, education on basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is important for all community members including youth. Introducing CPR training in middle schools may allow for early introduction and dissemination of this life saving skill.

Objective: Our main objective was to evaluate if seventh graders in public middle schools understood the steps of hands-only CPR. Our secondary objective was to assess if a teach back method aided in learning these steps.

Design/Methods: The primary sites for our intervention were two middle schools located near our hospital center. Students completed a pre-test before the intervention to assess baseline knowledge of CPR and to collect demographics. Health care professionals from the pediatric emergency department provided a 40-minute training session to students reviewing what CPR is, when to start it, and how to appropriately give chest compressions. Each student then practiced CPR on an inflatable manikin provided through a Medical Staff Society Grant and an initial posttest survey was completed. Half of the students were then assigned to teach what they had learned to a parent, sibling, or another student using the manikin. School A had this cohort bring the manikins home to teach while School B taught other students in the classroom. A final posttest was completed after this teach back portion. The study was IRB exempt as no personal health data was collected. Change in CPR knowledge from baseline to initial posttest was analyzed from each school separately using paired t-tests and linear regression, adjusting for baseline knowledge. Similar methods were used for final posttest assessment of change after adjusting for initial posttest score.

Results: A total of 351 students were included in this study with 137 from School A and 214 from School B. There was a significant difference in knowledge from baseline to initial posttest and from initial posttest to final posttest (p < 0.0001) in each school. While taking home a manikin to teach did not lead to a significant change, teaching another student in the classroom did lead to a significant change in knowledge from initial posttest (p < 0.05).Conclusion(s): Seventh grade students in two public middle schools were able to understand the steps of CPR after a brief training session provided by the local pediatric emergency staff. The teach back method may help in reiterating this knowledge. Further research should be done on the practical quality of CPR provided by the students.
Roshni Patel CVPatel_CV.pdf