The American Heart Association in their 2010 guidelines notes that retention of life saving CPR skills and knowledge is a significant problem for both lay rescuers and healthcare providers, but there was no consensus at the time about the optimal format for promoting skills retention. Retention of CPR skills over time has long been known to suffer.
A significant amount of research has gone into identifying the type of training which may lead to more knowledge and therefore skills retention- instructor led versus voice activated manikins, Heartcode courses versus traditional classroom courses, and high versus low fidelity simulation.
There is a growing body of research that suggests perhaps the more important component of skills retention is not how a student is trained, but how OFTEN. Traditional AHA CPR certification requires re-training every 2 years, but with multiple studies showing significant reduction in skills mastery and knowledge retention within 3 months, research has taken on the question of how to maintain those skills several months out from a required 2 year CPR refresher.
We will be exploring more on this topic over the next several weeks, and discussing how we, as your preferred provider of CPR based education, can help in skills retention.
A significant amount of research has gone into identifying the type of training which may lead to more knowledge and therefore skills retention- instructor led versus voice activated manikins, Heartcode courses versus traditional classroom courses, and high versus low fidelity simulation.
There is a growing body of research that suggests perhaps the more important component of skills retention is not how a student is trained, but how OFTEN. Traditional AHA CPR certification requires re-training every 2 years, but with multiple studies showing significant reduction in skills mastery and knowledge retention within 3 months, research has taken on the question of how to maintain those skills several months out from a required 2 year CPR refresher.
We will be exploring more on this topic over the next several weeks, and discussing how we, as your preferred provider of CPR based education, can help in skills retention.
