title: The effectiveness of ERC advanced life support (ALS) provider courses for the retention of ALS knowledge.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Out-of-hospital emergency physicians in Austria need mandatory emergency physician training, followed by biennial refresher courses. Currently, both standardized ERC advanced life support (ALS) provider courses and conventional refresher courses are offered. This study aimed to compare the retention of ALS-knowledge of out-of-hospital emergency physicians depending on whether they had or had not participated in an ERC-ALS provider course since 2005.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (n=807) from 19 refresher courses for out-of-hospital emergency physicians answered eight multiple-choice questions (MCQ) about ALS based on the 2005 ERC guidelines. The pass score was 75% correct answers. A multivariate logistic regression analyzed differences in passing scores between those who had previously participated in an ERC-ALS provider course and those who had not. Age, gender, regularity of working as an out-of-hospital emergency physician and the self-reported number of real resuscitation efforts within the last 6months were entered as control variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out-of-hospital emergency physicians who had previously attended an ERC-ALS provider course had a significantly higher chance of passing the MCQ test (OR=1.60, p=0.015). Younger age (OR=0.95, p<0.001), regular work as an out-of-hospital emergency physician (OR=2.66, p<0.001) and a higher number of self-reported resuscitations within the last 6months (OR=1.08, p=0.002) were also significant predictors of passing the test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Out-of-hospital emergency physicians that had attended an ERC-ALS provider course since 2005 had a higher retention of ALS knowledge compared to non-ERC-ALS course participants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, General Intensive Care and Pain Control, Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Medical University Vienna, Austria. henrik.fischer@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Strunk
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neuhold
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kiblböck
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Trimmel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baubin
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Domanovits
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Greif
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001317:Austria; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D012153:Retention, Psychology