Resuscitation
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The effect of time on CPR and automated external defibrillator skills in the Public Access Defibrillation Trial.
The time to skill deterioration between primary training/retraining and further retraining in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED) for lay-persons is unclear. The Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) trial was a multi-center randomized controlled trial evaluating survival after CPR-only versus CPR+AED delivered by onsite non-medical volunteer responders in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. ⋯ After primary training/retraining, the CPR skills of targeted lay responders deteriorate nominally but 80% remain competent up to 1 year. AED skills do not deteriorate significantly and 90% of volunteers remain competent up to 1 year.