Dispatcher-assistance in lay rescuer infant CPR: Promoting the enhancement of the guiding protocol

In the 2021 guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) on infant CPR, a two-thumb encircling technique (TTET) is advised instead of the former two-finger technique (TFT), even for single rescuers. It is however unclear if this is also feasible and effective in case of dispatcher-assisted CPR by untrained bystanders and was explored in a cross-over infant manikin study including CPR-trained students and lay people. Both groups performed the TTET and the TFT, with dispatcher-assistance (according to Belgian protocol) only being provided to the CPR-untrained group. Results suggest it is feasible to advice single lay rescuers to perform TTET as part of a dispatcher-assisted CPR protocol, although we identified an ongoing risk, regardless of the technique advised, of suboptimal compression depth. Further research should be performed to confirm these preliminary data and explore optimal protocols for dispatcher-assisted infant CPR.