• Stefan K Beckers, Michael Fries, Johannes Bickenbach, Max H Skorning, Matthias Derwall, Ralf Kuhlen, and Rolf Rossaint.
• Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital Aachen, Germany. sbeckers@ukaachen.de
• Resuscitation. 2007 Mar 1; 72 (3): 444-50.

Aim Of The StudyThere is consent that the use of automated external defibrillators (AED) by laypersons improves survival rates in case of cardiac arrest, but no evident consensus exists on the content and duration of training for this purpose. Acceptance of the implementation of Public Access Defibrillation programmes will depend on practical and target-oriented training concepts. The aim of this prospective randomised interventional study was to evaluate long-term effects of a specific, minimal training programme on using semiautomatic and fully automatic AEDs in simulated cardiac arrest.Materials And MethodsIn a mock cardiac arrest scenario 59 medical students with no specific previous medical education were tested during their first semester at medical school. Students who passed any medical emergency training were excluded. The subjects were evaluated before and after attending specified instructions of 15 min duration and after a period of 6 months. Main end points were time to first shock, electrode-positioning and safety throughout the procedure.ResultsMean time to first shock without prior instructions was 77.7+/-17.05 s. After instruction there was a significant improvement to 56.5+/-9.5 s (pConclusionFirst year medical students with minimal instruction are able to use semiautomatic as well as fully automatic AED sufficiently fast and safe without prior training. A significant improvement in time to first shock can be detected up to 6 months after receiving non-specific instructions of 15 min duration.

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