An effort to reduce chest compression pauses during automated external defibrillator use among laypeople: A randomized partially blinded controlled trial

AIM: To implement small methodological changes in basic life support (BLS) training to reduce unnecessary pauses during automated external defibrillator (AED) use. METHODS: One hundred and two university students with no BLS knowledge were randomly allocated into three groups (control and 2 experimental groups). Both experimental groups received a two-hour BLS training. While the contents were identical in both groups, in one of them the reduction of no-flow time was focused on (focused no-flow group). The control group did not receive any training. Finally, all of them were evaluated in the same out-of-hospital cardiac arrest simulated scenario. The primary endpoint was the compression fraction. RESULTS: Results from 78 participants were analysed (control group: 19; traditional group: 30; focused no-flow group: 29). The focused no-flow group achieved higher percentages of compression fraction (median: 56.0, interquartile rank (IQR): 53.5–58.5) than the traditional group (44.0, IQR: 42.0–47.0) and control group (52.0, IQR: 43.0–58.0) in the complete scenario. Participants from the control group performed compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), while the other groups performed compression-ventilation CPR. CPR fraction was calculated, showing the fraction of time in which the participants were performing resuscitation manoeuvres. In this case, the focused no-flow group reached higher percentages of CPR fraction (77.6, IQR: 74.4–82.4) than the traditional group (61.9, IQR: 59.3–68.1) and the control group (52.0, IQR: 43.0–58.0). CONCLUSIONS: Laypeople having automated external defibrillation training focused on acting in anticipation of the AED prompts contributed to a reduction in chest compression pauses during an OHCA simulated scenario.