Piloting a Basic Life Support instructor course: A short report

AIM: The aim was to describe a new shortened pilot of the European Resuscitation Council’s standard Basic Instructor Course. METHODS: The four-hour pilot followed a blended learning strategy (pre-course preparation, on-site small-group sessions). Each participant taught a short Basic Life Support competency to the group (micro-teaching) and received the group's feedback. A feedback “drill” session followed. Primary quantitative outcome was the proportion of Basic Instructor Course participants subsequently teaching Basic Life Support. Post-course teachings were recorded and compared to standard eight-hour Basic Instructor Courses. Participants’ open feedback question answers were qualitatively analyzed and presented descriptively. RESULTS: This pilot Basic Instructor Course taught 31 healthcare providers in 4 courses in 2019–2021 (aged 31.5 ± 12.9 years; 61 % women; 29 % physicians; 71 % medical students; 21 % no teaching experience). Participants reported that they gained most from micro-teaching (64 %), and advice on their teaching (50 %). Some judged the course as being too long (29 %). Twenty-seven pilot course participants (87 %) (including three instructor candidates) started teaching, whereas only nine of 37 participants of the 3 courses (24 %, including three instructor candidates) from the standard eight-hour course did. CONCLUSION: Participants of the pilot shortened Basic Instructor Course in a healthcare setting were successfully trained to teach European Resuscitation Council’s Basic Life Support provider courses in a short four-hour format. The pilot course seems to enable future instructors to teach Basic Life Support provider courses. Higher motivation to teach resulted in four times as many instructors who taught courses after the pilot course compared to the standard course.