More people willing to administer CPR
Results of a national survey indicate that public awareness campaigns on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) are having a positive impact on the American public, because people are less fearful than previously believed about helping someone, even a stranger, in the event of an emergency.
Mary Newman, executive director of the new National Center for Early Defibrillation (NCED) at the University of Pittsburgh, recently released new statistics on public awareness, attitudes, and experiences related to resuscitation at the Emergency Cardiac Care Update International Educational Conference in San Diego.
Researchers who studied CPR in the past found resuscitative training was ineffective and poorly targeted.
Additionally, the effectiveness of CPR training depended on the quality of the instructor as well as the confidence and competence of the student. Fear of disease transmission was another factor why many Americans in earlier surveys said they were afraid to perform CPR.
Curiosity about the current status of public awareness and experience related to resuscitation prompted the study, which was conducted from June 9-13, 1999. More than 1,000 people were randomly selected to participate in a national telephone survey. Questions were intended to gauge the amount of exposure to CPR and AED training, and people’s willingness to take a CPR-AED class, to use CPR or an AED in an emergency, and to help strangers, friends, and family members. People also were asked why they would or would not use CPR or an AED on strangers, friends, and family members.
Newman, principal investigator of the study, says results of the study indicate most adults have been trained in CPR and one in nine Americans have used it. Most are willing to use CPR to help known victims as well as strangers, and concerns about disease transmission and legal liability are rare.
"It is encouraging to know that so many laypersons have taken the time to learn CPR, and that contrary to popular perceptions, most people would not hesitate to use it, even on strangers," she says. "It is also exciting to know [AED] is becoming a familiar concept to many Americans. Our hope is to help make defibrillation a household word."
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