Abstract
Background
Little is known about parent CPR skills and their perceptions of its use, especially
in the context of drowning incidents among young children where parents are often
the first responder. The primary objective of the study was to examine parental understanding
of child and adult CPR, extent of CPR training, and parental confidence to perform
CPR.
Method
Survey research using a self-complete questionnaire was used to gather data from parents
(n = 1716) whose 2–4-year-old toddlers were either attending early childhood centres (n = 781) or enrolled in swim schools (n = 935). Differences in parental CPR training, knowledge, levels of confidence in ability
to perform CPR, and perceptions were measured by frequency, with regression tests
used to discern differences by institution, gender, ethnicity, length of residency,
and recency of CPR training.
Results
Almost two-thirds (64%) of parents reported that they had received formal CPR training
in the past, yet few correctly reported the current ratios for either adult CPR (19%)
or child CPR (12%). Most parents correctly agreed that, in child CPR, you must always
give initial breaths before starting compressions (74%), but the majority incorrectly
believed you should seek help before starting CPR (61%) and continue CPR for 5 min before stopping (59%). Most parents (56%) felt anxious about their ability to
perform CPR on an adult, and even more (62%) felt anxious about their ability to perform
child CPR.
Conclusion
Our findings highlight the need for education interventions to address the substantial
gaps in knowledge of CPR for all parents of young children.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 11, 2011
Accepted:
December 28,
2010
Received in revised form:
December 13,
2010
Received:
September 14,
2010
Footnotes
☆A Spanish translated version of the summary of this article appears as Appendix in the final online version at doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2010.12.019.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
