Teach cardiac resuscitation in schools: HCFI

Wednesday 5th August 2009 HCFI: Children as young as 9 years old can and should learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) said Dr KK Aggarwal President, Heart Care Foundation of India, BSNL Dil Ka Darbar, MTNL Perfect Health Mela and Director, IMA AKN Sinha Institute.

The usefulness of CPR training in schools has been questioned, since young students may not have the physical and cognitive skills needed to perform such complex tasks correctly. According to a study of 147 students who received six hours of life-support training, 86 percent of the children performed CPR correctly at a follow-up session four months after the training. The study is published in the journal Critical Care. The report found that students as young as 9 years were able to successfully and effectively learn basic life-support skills. Like in adults or the elderly, in children also the physical strength may limit depth of chest compressions and ventilation volumes, but skill retention is good. In the training program, the children were taught
1.  CPR
2.  How to use of automatic defibrillators
3.  The correct recovery position and
4.  How to call for emergency services.
Body mass index, not age, was the major factor in depth of CPR compressions and amount of air exhalation. That means that a well-built   9-year onwards-old child can be just as capable at CPR as an older child.