A comparison of manikin CPR performance by lay persons trained in three variations of basic life support guidelines

This paper reports on a randomised controlled trial comparing the acquisition and retention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills by lay persons trained in three variations of basic life support. Training was provided either in 1992 European Resuscitation Council (ERC) guidelines, or in the 1997 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) Advisory Statement (adopted with minor revisions as 1998 ERC guidelines), and an American Heart Association 'call first' version of the 1997 ILCOR statement. Evaluation of manikin CPR using the established Cardiff tests (CARE and VIDRAP) showed that 51% of those trained in the current ILCOR guidelines performed effectively compared with 38% trained in the ERC 1992 guidelines and 25% trained in the 'call first' variation (P<0.01). Whilst the current ERC and ILCOR guidelines appeared easiest to learn, retention at 6 months was poor (14% effective) irrespective of method.