Abstract
BackgroundThe European Resuscitation Council (ERC) released new guidelines on resuscitation in 2015. For the first time, the guidelines included a separate chapter on first aid for laypersons. We analysed the current major Danish national first aid books to identify potential inconsistencies between the current books and the new evidence-based first aid guidelines.MethodsWe identified first aid books from all the first aid courses offered by major Danish suppliers. Based on the new ERC first aid guidelines, we developed a checklist of 26 items within 16 different categories to assess the content; this checklist was adapted following the principle of mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive questioning. To assess the agreement between four raters, Fleiss’ kappa test was used. Items that did not reach an acceptable kappa score were excluded.ResultsWe evaluated 10 first aid books used for first aid courses and published between 2009 and 2015. The content of the books complied with the new in 38% of the answers.In 12 of the 26 items, there was less than 50% consistency. These items include proximal pressure points and elevation of extremities for the control of bleeding, use of cervical collars, treatment for an open chest wound, burn dressing, dental avulsion, passive leg raising, administration of bronchodilators, adrenaline, and aspirin.ConclusionsDanish course material showed significant inconsistencies with the new evidence-based first aid guidelines. The new knowledge from the evidence-based guidelines should be incorporated into revised and updated first aid course material.
Highlights
The European Resuscitation Council (ERC) released new guidelines on resuscitation in 2015
In October 2015, the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) released the new guidelines on resuscitation, which included for the first time first aid guidelines for laypersons
In this study, we use the following definition of first aid from the ERC Guidelines for Resuscitation 2015 Section 9: “First Aid is defined as the helping behaviours and initial care provided for an acute illness or injury.”
Summary
The European Resuscitation Council (ERC) released new guidelines on resuscitation in 2015. The guidelines included a separate chapter on first aid for laypersons. We analysed the current major Danish national first aid books to identify potential inconsistencies between the current books and the new evidence-based first aid guidelines. First aid for laypersons was initially introduced in 1878 by the British army officers Peter Shepherd and Francis Duncan. The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) task force, established in 2012, paved the way for the development of the first evidence-based first aid guidelines [2,3,4]. In October 2015, the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) released the new guidelines on resuscitation, which included for the first time first aid guidelines for laypersons. To change the clinical practice, some known barriers to implementation might need to be overcome [6, 7]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have