[Motivation and self-assessed competence of defibrillator users]

The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation started a first responder defibrillator program in cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services in 2002. By January 2007, 250 half-automatic defibrillators had been made available in 200 municipalities and 250 users had been trained. The aim of the study was to identify defibrillator users' motivation, self-assessed competence and their experience with the referring physician.

In autumn 2005, a structured questionnaire was sent to 490 providers (a 50% random selection of all 980) who attended the first responder defibrillator program and course in 2002/2003. The response rate was 70% (307/439).

33% of the providers had not received a formal delegation certificate from a doctor. A majority (75%) of providers had not met the actual doctor and could therefore not tell if they were involved in the program. Almost everyone (99%) meant that they personally and that the first responder group as a whole (98%) would manage the job. For the 120 (39%) users who had been in a real-life situation corresponding numbers were 93% and 90%. Real-life situations had a positive effect on motivation for 71 (59%) of the first responders.

This study indicates that for most doctors delegation of responsibility was a formality without any professional content. The first responders were self-confident and motivated.