The 2020 American Heart Association (AHA) guideline for Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) introduced the role of a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) coach to improve teamperformance of high-quality CPR. Though there have been examples of CPR coaching improving CPR quality, there has been limited curricular description about how to train CPR coaches within the emergency department.
Our aim was to (1) implement a curriculum that trained our own CPR coaches to improve the quality of our chest compressions and (2) make the curriculum easily accessible and adaptable for others in different settings and institutions.
We identified four content areas essential to CPR coach performance.
- (1) Pre-Arrival
- (2) Arrival & Defibrillation
- (3) CPR Feedback
- (4) Body Mechanics and Troubleshooting
Our curriculum primarily consisted of an hour and half training that consisted of set up, training, and break down. Individual, in-person simulation training sessions consisted of five mini simulations utilizing rapid cycle deliberate practice methodology. Each simulation had an accompanying video module which covered important technical and non-technical skills for each content area. Videos were assigned as pre-work for the learner prior to participation in the simulation training. Learners were assigned videos two weeks prior to their assigned in person training date.
Our aim with this comprehensive “kit” is to walk you through how our training curriculum was implemented and provide resources for adapting it to your own needs.
Within the kit you will find:
- An overview of the curriculum
- Links to videos
- Simulation scenarios
- Sample feedback forms
- Assessment tools