Looking back on 8 years of teaching CPR with MiniAnne at the Athénée of Luxembourg
Poster presented at the ERC congress on Education in Iceland-Reykjavik
Authors: Jean-Louis Gindt, Myriam Gessner, teachers at the Athénée
Two other posters presented at the ERC Congress:
AUTHOR: BAESCH OLIVIER, TUTOR: KREIS YVES, DR.
RESUSCITATION TRAINING CONCEPT IN LUXEMBOURGISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS
M.MAJERUS , J.BEISSEL ,C.CLARENS ,P. STAMMET , J. UHRIG , P. WELTER
HANDS-ONLY CPR AND AED TRAINING FOR LAY PEOPLE AND STUDENTS IN LUXEMBOURG
Intro | Since 1998 the secondary school “Athénée de Luxembourg” (AL) has had its own First Aid Team, which is called “Éischt Hëllef Team Kolléisch (EHTK)”[1] in Luxembourgish. This team is made up of students who detain a first aid certificate and is coached by one or two members of the school staff. In 2016, the team counted 37 active students and 2 leaders, Myriam Gessner and Jean-Louis Gindt. Since 2009, as first secondary school in Luxembourg, we have trained our students in CPR with MiniAnne manikins [2]. |
The project | Through generous sponsorship by the Athénée Alumni Association, 100 MiniAnne kits were purchased in 2009. In 2015, the team was able to purchase an additional 110 new kits sponsored by different organisations.Since 2009, students from grades 8, 10 and 12 have been successfully trained to acquire and use CPR skills as First Responder. In addition, members from our teaching and non-teaching staff regularly attend professional development classes in this field.Over the last 8 years, this amounts to a total of 4500 students and adults at the AL, who have been introduced to and are regularly updated on how to use CPR skills efficiently. Thus, CPR has become an integral part of school and student life. |
The method | The method of the project remains basically the same over the 8 years: For 8th and 10th-grade students, training is integrated into their biology course, whereas for 12th-grade students it is part of their P.E. class. 8th and 10th grade students (groups of 25) are trained in their classroom, whereas 12th graders are trained in our gym, in groups of up to 90.A training session is equivalent to a 50-minute school lesson. First, the correct administering of chest compressions is practised, before students are taught the professional use of AED to move on to giving correct breathing assistance. Finally, the session closes with the recovery position. Between the different parts, short videos illustrate hands-on training practice and give “how to” instructions. |
| Training is given and supervised either by one of the leaders of the school’s emergency team or experienced members of the EHTK, assisted by at least two student-members of the team.The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the “Kids save Lives”[3] statement that recommends annual CPR training of schoolchildren from age twelve and up for 2 hours per year. Indeed, kids in our 8th grade are 13 years old. In our school with 1350 students, it is very difficult to organize annually a training classes for all. However, organizing annually training classes for about 500 persons does not pose any major organisational challenge to our team.The WHO recommendation of 2 h per year makes it almost impossible to fit CPR training into our students’ weekly time-table. One 50-minute school lesson teaching CPR has already proved to be efficient and sustainable for the last 8 years. In 2016, we had the opportunity to teach CPR together with the LRC (Luxembourg Resuscitation Council) in a different school for 100 minutes (2 school lessons). Our evaluation showed that the CPR skills used by students who had been taught two lessons did not exceed those who had only been taught one lesson a year. Following the WHO “Kids save lives” only partially, the latest ERC guidelines however have been incorporated into the MiniAnne curriculum since October 15, 2016. In 2016, we developed our own didactic roadmap[4] with the different steps of a teaching unit, including the main messages and some illustrating videos. | |
| Results Since 2009, we have collected self-evaluation sheets in our CPR workshops from all student participants. We will now present you the summary of 8 years of teaching CPR. | |
2009 – 2016 chest compressions | Since 2009, about 90% of our students have consistently felt confident about being able to give chest compressions. Only in 2016 did the rate drop below 90%. Based on the new guidelines issued in 2015, our training focused on high qualitative chest compressions. That may be a reason why we didn’t reach the score of former years. Looking more closely at grades 8, 10 and 12, we are very satisfied that our 10th grade scored 95,5%. However, our 12th graders have the same score as our 8th graders. This might be due to the fact that students in 12th grade refreshed their CPR skills for the second time (and thus the novelty had worn off), whereas 8th grade students were just learning these skills for the first time. |
2009 – 2016 breathing assistance | The figures drawn from the students’ own self-assessment sheets show that between 2009 and 2016 they do not feel confident giving breathing assistance. In 2009, breathing assistance was an important part of our CPR training. With the new 2010 guidelines, teaching breathing assistance became less important. Instead, our main focus was on teaching “compression only” CPR. Thus, breathing assistance became optional. Only 60% of the students felt confident enough to administer rescue breathing in 2015. Following the 2015 guidelines about combining chest compressions and ventilations, in 2016, 68% of our students believed that they were able to administer rescue breathing. |
2009 – 2016 using an AED | We are also very proud of the 79% of our 10th grade students who feel self-confident enough to give breathing assistance in case of emergency.In 2009, the Athénée was the first school in Luxembourg to install an AED, and training in BLS/AED has been implemented since 2010. Throughout the years, 80% of our students think that they are able to use an AED. Why is there a difference between the score of chest compressions and the use of an AED of about 12%? It is really hard to tell. Maybe the handling of a more complex tool in combination with chest compressions might be the cause? |
CPR training and first-aid-course | Every year, The Athénée offers a complete first-aid course on a voluntary basis, which is run by the Luxembourg Red Cross. The CPR training units motivate about 10% of the students every year to enrol in such a course. As a result, nearly 30% of our students have a first aid certificate. Since 2009 335 students have received an official first-aid-certificate. |
Challenges out of school | The EHTK has regularly put a lot of effort into promoting CPR awareness among a larger public since 2010.Throughout Luxembourg, the EHTK team has been giving precious information on CPR on so-called “Open Days” or “Personal Health and Safety Awareness Days”, funded by the public administration. (Administration des Services de Secours, Centres d’Intervention Régionaux et Communaux, …)The First Aid Team is also regularly called upon by Luxembourg Primary Schools or other Secondary Schools to offer CPR training seminars.The national Luxembourg Resuscitation Council has been actively supporting this project since 2009. It draws from the previous experiences made at the AL in order to motivate other secondary schools to offer CPR courses, as well. |
 | There is no doubt that the general public has been showing growing interest in CPR. When our Minister of Education Claude Meisch visited our school in 2016, the EHTK didn’t miss the opportunity of getting him personally involved with our CPR training. |
 | The team was awarded “Le Mérite Jeunesse”, a prestigious prize which is part of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. During his visit to our school in June 2015, H.R.H. Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, president of the board, the team together with the prince and his staff practised CPR. |
 | And most recently, fifteen students were called upon by the ING-Night-Marathon Organisational Committee to act as First Responders during the running competition on 28 May, 2016. Our students were supervised and specially trained by the LRC réagis!-campagne. |
Quotes
Evaluation Teaching CPR with MiniAnne in the Athénée of Luxembourg has been a success story for over 8 years now, and it will be continued. The experience of the AL encourages the LRC promoting CPR in other secondary schools. The Athénée has become an active promoter of CPR for the general public in Luxembourg. | |
| [1] AL First Aid Team – Éischt Hëllef Team Kolléisch – www.ehtk.lu // www.facebook.com/EHTK2/ [2] First Secondary School in Luxembourg sampling CPR with MiniAnne https://ehtk.lu/wp-content/pdf/poster_ERC_2009.pdf [3] WHO, Kids save lives: https://www.erc.edu/projects/kids-save-lives [4] CPR AL-roadmap: https://ehtk.lu/wp-content/pdf/MiniAnne_EHTK_Kurs.pdf | |
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Abstract submitted by the Athénée for the Resuscitation 2016 – ERC congress on Education in Iceland-Reykjavik
The Athénée of Luxembourg (AL) – the first secondary school in Luxembourg to teach CPR skills – presented a study on its first-year teaching experience at the “Scientific Symposium Education 2009” in Cologne [1]. The AL will present a long-term review (8 years) of its school project at the 2016 congress in Reykjavik.
The initial concept has proved to be pedagogically sound, as this current study is going to lay out.
More than 90% of all students feel confident that they do have the appropriate skills to administer CPR in case of emergency. Since 2009, students from grades 8, 10 and 12 have been successfully trained to acquire and use CPR skills as First Responder. In addition, members from our teaching and non-teaching staff regularly attend professional development classes in this field. This amounts to a total of 4500 students and adults at the AL who have been introduced to and are regularly updated on how to use CPR skills efficiently. Thus, CPR has become an integral part of student life. Indeed, one of the main tasks of the AL First Aid Team (EHTK) consists in setting up and running CPR training seminars throughout the school year. [2] This team is made up of approximately 40 students and 2 teachers (i.e. team leaders). The latest ERC guidelines have been incorporated into the MiniAnne curriculum since October 15, 2016.
In addition, the EHTK has regularly put a lot of effort into promoting CPR awareness among a larger public since 2010. Throughout Luxembourg, the EHTK team has been giving precious information on CPR on so-called “Open Days” or “Personal Health and Safety Awareness Days”, funded by the public administration. (Administration des Services de Secours, Centres d’Intervention Régionaux et Communaux, …) The First Aid Team is also regularly called upon by Luxembourg Primary Schools or other Secondary Schools to offer CPR training seminars.
The national Luxembourg Resuscitation Council has been actively supporting this project since 2009. It draws from the previous experiences made at the AL in order to motivate other secondary schools to offer CPR courses, as well. There is no doubt that the general public has been showing growing interest in CPR. Sixteen students (13 AL, 3 LGL) were called upon by the ING-Night-Marathon organisational committee to act as First Responders during the running competition on 28 May, 2016.
[1] First Secondary School in Luxembourg sampling CPR with MiniAnne
https://ehtk.lu/wp-content/pdf/poster_ERC_2009.pdf
[2] AL First Aid Team – Éischt Hëllef Team Kolléisch – www.ehtk.lu
