Utility of Low Fidelity Manikins for Learning High Quality Chest Compressions

Primarily, to measure the adequacy of chest compression depth after training on low fidelity manikins and secondarily to assess the comparative experience of the learners on high fidelity and low fidelity simulators.

An observational cohort study in which seventy-two first year postgraduate students underwent a Basic Life Support (BLS) workshop conducted by AHA accredited BLS trainers and they were then required to perform on a high fidelity manikin to objectively record the quality of their performance.

There were 34 (47.22%) male and 38 (52.77%) female participants. CPR skills, as judged by checklist of sequential actions and visual inspection during the BLS training on low fidelity simulators (LFS) were correctly performed by majority (95.89%) participants. However, none of the participants could achieve the recommended depth for high quality chest compressions. The participants' perception of degree of realism and their practical experience on both the types of manikins were similar.

Low fidelity manikins are useful for training CPR in sequential manner but fail to impart quality of chest compressions as per AHA recommendations.