Spotlight on Research

Survival from cardiac arrest is known to improve if patients receive good quality chest compressions as soon as possible. During cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, subjective assessment of chest compression quality is still common despite the availability of more objective measurement through the manikin. This quantitative study compared peer-led subjective assessment of chest compressions of participants with objective data taken from a manikin.

Participants were recruited from three European countries and encompassed lay people, emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and hospital staff. Each group had 26 participants who were paired and asked to perform chest compressions for 2 minutes. During this time, both the manikin and the non-performing instructor were simultaneously recording the participants' performance. Both produced a score of each participant's compression rate, depth, hand position and complete release over the 2-minute period, and an overall score (pass mark). After a short break, the roles were reversed and the process repeated.

Observers from all backgrounds were consistently more generous in their assessment when compared with the manikin. The quality of chest compressions influences outcome following cardiac arrest; the findings of this study support increased use of objective assessment.