A comparison of the effectiveness of QCPR and conventional CPR training in final-year medical students at a South African university

INTRODUCTION: High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) saves lives. Training on basic first aid manikins allows students to practice manoeuvres and provides realistic resistance to chest compressions. Conventional CPR has no real-time feedback to observe the quality of CPR. Quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (QCPR) is technology using wireless sensors embedded in the manikin to measure the effectiveness of core CPR components. This study compared the effectiveness of CPR training of final-year undergraduate medical students using electronic-feedback QCPR adult manikins and conventional adult manikins. The effectiveness of compressions was compared and return on investment was investigated. METHODS: In an experimental study, 53 students were divided into two groups using simple random sampling. The QCPR group practised CPR on the QCPR manikins. The CPR group practised on conventional CPR manikins. Both groups were allowed to practice for approximately 10 minutes. After the training session, both groups were tested using the QCPR manikin. Only chest compression performance in adult-sized manikins were measured, recorded and compared. RESULTS: The median flow fraction for the QCPR group was 78.0% (interquartile range (IQR) 63–89%) and for the CPR group 80.0% (IQR 74–85%). The median number of compressions for the QCPR group was 104 (IQR 101–109) and for the CPR group 107 (IQR 79–124). Both groups achieved a 100% compression rate with adequate depth. The maximum total effectiveness of both groups was 99%. No statistically significant difference was seen for the overall percentage of compression effectiveness between the groups. CONCLUSION: Participants achieved acceptable scores on most CPR compression metrics and complied with CPR guidelines in most cases. Efficacy of CPR training on conventional and QCPR manikins was comparable. CPR training in low resource settings can be just as effective on conventional manikins. Immediate feedback technology adds value to the training experience, allowing for individuals to adjust for deviations to set standards.