Hands-only CPR training for children, adolescents and adults at the school community: The kids save lives Brazil experience

The education of bystanders to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is crucial to improve the victim's survival and quality of life. KIDS SAVE LIVES BRAZIL program has trained children, adolescents, and adults of school communities to identify signals and symptoms as to take first actions in acute stroke, choking, and sudden cardiac arrest. The present longitudinal study assessed the success rate between a 45-min training using low-fidelity/low-cost manikins (1630 subjects, mean age 16 years, 38% male) and a 2-h training using high-fidelity manikins (347 subjects, mean age 27 years, 32% male) on the development of the following competencies (yes/no): checking local safety, checking victim's responsiveness, calling for help, checking victim's breathing, and performing effective chest compression (straight arms and hands positioning on the chest, compression velocity, depth and return). Most subjects (>89.4%) developed all competencies. However, the chances of success increased with age in the same group in checking local safety (13.2-fold, p = 0.011), chest compression effectiveness (1.7-fold, p = 0.027), and chest release (1.8-fold, p = 0.014). The chances of success also increased with 2-h training at the same age in checking local safety (7.4-fold, p = 0.049), victim's responsiveness (2.3-fold, p = 0.020) and respiration (9.0-fold, p = 0.031), calling for help (3.9-fold, p = 0.009) and chest compression release (2.2-fold, p = 0.008). High-fidelity manikins increased the success rate of chest release. In conclusion, the 45-min training using low-fidelity/low-cost manikins resulted in >89.4% of the success rate for general CPR-competencies’ acquisitions at schools. However, the probability of success rate in specific competencies increases with age, the 2-h training time-period, and the use of high-fidelity manikins.