Health: Nine-Year Old Students Should be Taught CPR

Health: Nine-Year Old Students Should be Taught CPR

Dick Moss, Editor, PE Update.com

A recent study has shown that school-children should be taught CPR, and at a very young age. How young? The study showed that nine-year old students can learn the technique.

The Study
The research, conducted at the Medical University at Vienna, Austria, studied 147 children who had received six hours of CPR training.

An examination four months later showed that 88% still performed CPR correctly.

The skills taught included automatic defibrillator deployment, applying CPR, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, use of the recovery position and calling for emergency services.

It was found that, as with adults, physical strength can limit the depth of chest compression that children can apply and that the body mass index of the patient is a factor in the effectiveness of treatment. However, age was not considered to be a limiting factor, since strong nine-year olds were as capable as older children.

Recommendations
It was recommended that CPR be taught in elementary schools. The cognitive skills required to learn CPR are adequate and some children will have the strength to perform the technique effectively.

Even if inadequate strength limits it's effectiveness in certain children,  with periodic retraining, the performance of those children will improve over time.


References:
1. “Little Lifesavers, Kids Capable of CPR.” Science Daily, August 3, 2009.  
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090730200630.htm
2. Roman Fleischhackl, Alexander Nuernberger, Fritz Sterz, Christina Schoenberg, Tania Urso, Tanja Habart, Martina Mittlboeck and Nisha Chandra-Strobos. School children sufficiently apply life supporting first aid: A prospectiveinvestigation. Critical Care 2009, 13:R127
http://ccforum.com/content/13/4/R127


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