CPR training that included real-time audiovisual feedback, emphasizing a “pit crew” or team approach to pre-hospital care for cardiac arrest patients raised survival by almost 60 percent.

The clinical trial of scenario-based training was published online in Annals of Emergency Medicine. “The Influence of Scenario-Based Training and Real-Time Audiovisual Feedback on Pre-hospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality and Survival from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest” demon- strates an association between a CPR quality initiative with real-time audiovisual feedback and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes.

“It is also the first to show an association between performance of the 2010 American Heart Association CPR quality metrics and increased survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,” said lead study author Dr. Bentley Bobrow of The University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix.

The Mesa Fire and Medical Department in Mesa implemented 2 hours of didactic teaching, 2 hours of scenario-based training and activation of real-time audiovisual feedback. Training emphasized a team approach to resuscitation, assigning each member of the team a role in a “pit crew” model of resuscitation.

CPR quality measures improved significantly after the training protocol was established. Chest compressions decreased from 128 to 106 per minute. Chest compression depth increased from 1.78 to 2.15 inches. Other measures improved similarly. Survival for all groups increased from 8.7 percent to 13.9 percent. For patients with shockable rhythms whose arrest was witnessed, survival more than doubled, from 26.3 percent to 55.6 percent.

“A carefully targeted CPR training curriculum that included real-time audiovisual feedback helped our EMS system significantly improve survival from cardiac arrest in just 18 months,” said Dr. Bobrow. “This is very encouraging news for all communities trying to tackle the major public health problem of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This intervention is feasible on a large scale and has the potential to save thousands of lives every year.”

To read the published study, go to: http://tinyurl.com/a6455n6.

For video demonstration of the CPR protocol, go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v= VwSo_gdQf8Y&feature=youtu.be.