title: Can effective basic life support be taught to untrained individuals during a cardiac arrest?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to determine whether a trained rescuer could teach untrained bystanders to perform basic life support (BLS) during a simulated cardiac arrest.
  
  
  METHODS
  Volunteers were recruited from hospital ancillary staff and relatives of patients attending an emergency department. None had previous formal training in BLS. They were asked to perform BLS without instruction on a Laerdal 'Resusi Annie'. An instructor then gave training whilst performing BLS. When volunteers felt competent they performed BLS on their own. A penalty score was used to assess their performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-one volunteers completed the study (32 female, 19 male) mean age was 39 years (range 18-67 years). All the 51 volunteers showed an improvement in their penalty score after instruction. The score improved from 86.9 (SD=13.8) to 38.2 (SD=11.8). This decline was statistically significant (paired-sample t-test, P<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Untrained individuals showed an improvement in BLS skills when taught during a cardiac arrest.
authors.affiliation: SpR Emergency Medicine, Frenchay Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK. leilah.dare@blueyonder.co.uk
authors.forename: Leilah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dare
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benger
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Llewellyn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000193:education*; D004522:Educational Status; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care; D008297:Male; D008348:Manikins; D008875:Middle Aged; D013663:Teaching; D055815:Young Adult