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The Impact of Backboard Placement on Chest Compression Quality: A Mannequin Study
Erkman Sanri1, Sinan Karacabey1
1Department of Emergency Medicine,Marmara University Pendik Education and Research Hospital,Istanbul,Turkey.
Insights
Using a backboard during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) significantly improves chest compression quality, including depth and rate, according to a mannequin study. This finding supports adherence to American Heart Association guidelines for better patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Medicine
Background:
- High-quality chest compressions (CCs) are crucial for survival and neurological outcomes in cardiac arrest patients.
- The 2015 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines define high-quality CCs, but providers often struggle to meet these standards.
- The role of backboards in CPR is debated, with some studies suggesting benefits and others indicating potential delays.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of backboards on the quality of chest compressions during CPR.
- To simultaneously assess compression depth, recoil depth, and rate, the three key components of high-quality CCs.
- To compare successful CC rates between CPR performed with and without a backboard.
Main Methods:
- A randomized, controlled, single-blinded study was conducted using a high-fidelity mannequin.
- Undergraduate medical students performed two minutes of CPR in two groups: one with a backboard (experimental) and one without (control).
- Successful CC rates, mean CC depths, recoil depths, and CC rates were compared between the groups.
Main Results:
- The experimental group (with backboard) demonstrated a significantly higher proportion of successful CCs (66.7%) compared to the control group (38.0%; P = .0041).
- Mean CC depth, recoil depth, and CC rate were significantly greater in the group using a backboard.
- The study included 101 participants, with 50.5% being female and a mean age of 23.9 years.
Conclusions:
- The use of a backboard during CPR significantly enhances chest compression quality.
- Findings align with and support the 2015 AHA Guidelines for Resuscitation.
- Backboards appear to be beneficial for achieving high-quality chest compressions in a simulated CPR environment.
Introduction:
High-quality chest compressions (CCs) are associated with high survival rates and good neurological outcomes in cardiac arrest patients. The 2015 American Heart Association (AHA; Dallas, Texas USA) Guidelines for Resuscitation defined and recommended high-quality CCs during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). However, CPR providers struggle to achieve high-quality CCs. There is a debate about the use of backboards during CPR in literature. Some studies suggest backboards improve CC quality, whereas others suggest that backboards can cause delays. This is the first study to evaluate all three components of high-quality CCs: compression depth, recoil depth, and rate, at the same time with a high number of subjects. This study evaluated the impact of backboards on CC quality during CPR. The primary outcome was the difference in successful CC rates between two groups.
Methods:
This was a randomized, controlled, single-blinded study using a high-fidelity mannequin. The successful CC rates, means CC depths, recoil depths, and rates achieved by 6th-grade undergraduate medical students during two minutes of CPR were compared between two randomized groups: an experimental group (backboard present) and a control group (no backboard).
Results:
Fifty-one of all 101 subjects (50.5%) were female, and the mean age was 23.9 (SD = 1.01) years. The number and the proportion of successful CCs were significantly higher in the experimental group (34; 66.7%) when compared to the control group (19; 38.0%; P = .0041). The difference in mean values of CC depth, recoil depth, and CC rate was significantly higher in the experiment group.
Conclusion:
The results suggest that using a backboard during CPR improves the quality of CCs in accordance with the 2015 AHA Guidelines.Sanri E, Karacabey S. The impact of backboard placement on chest compression quality: a mannequin study. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2019;34(2):182-187.
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