Different perceptions of thorax anatomy and hand placement for chest compressions among healthcare professionals and laypersons: Implications for cardiopulmonary resuscitation

AIM: The European Resuscitation Council guidelines recommend that the hand position for chest compressions is obtained by “placing the heel of your hand in the centre of the chest”. Importantly, guidelines are based on a study on healthcare professionals being extrapolated to laypersons. This study explored whether healthcare professionals and laypersons differ in anatomical knowledge necessary for obtaining the correct hand position for chest compressions and understanding of European Resuscitation Council guideline recommendations in the absence of a demonstration. METHODS: We asked laypersons and healthcare professionals to identify where to place the hands for chest compressions on digital pictures of the chest of a man and a woman. Both groups were asked to identify where to place the hands for chest compressions, the left nipple (positive control), the centre of the chest and to delineate the anterior area of the chest. RESULTS: In total, 50 laypersons and 50 healthcare professionals were included. Healthcare professionals were significantly better at identifying the correct hand position for chest compressions compared to laypersons (male chest: P = 0.03, female chest: P < 0.0001) and delineating the anterior area of the chest. We found no significant difference between groups when instructed to identify the left nipple nor the centre of the chest (male chest: P = 0.57, female chest: P = 0.50). CONCLUSION: Laypersons and healthcare professionals have different perceptions of chest anatomy and where to perform chest compressions suggesting that caution should be taken when extrapolating results from healthcare professionals to laypersons. The ERC 2015 guideline recommendations on hand placement for chest compressions seems understandable by both laypersons and healthcare professionals.