Introducing Emergency University's Blended CPR and AED Training.

Each Year 330,000 Americans experience sudden cardiac death, yet less than 5% of Americans receive CPR training annually.¹ The vast majority (90%) of individuals who complete CPR training do so to meet a job requirement.² The majority of these trainees are health care professionals who work in controlled medical environments such as hospitals, ambulances, and clinics.³ However, the majority of cardiac arrests take place at work or in the home. (76%)⁴ While EMS systems have evolved to bring trained medical professionals to the scene of a medical emergency more rapidly, the optimal window for medical intervention in a cardiac arrest is often too narrow to allow for the timely transport of equipment and skills to the location of the victim.

The probability of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is at least doubled for victims who receive bystander CPR.^{5 6 7 8 9 10 11} Researchers have reasonably speculated that an increase in the incidence of bystander CPR will translate into a measurable increase in the survival rate and the savings of at least hundreds of additional lives in the US.¹² To increase the probability of bystander CPR, we need to increase the number of individuals trained in CPR. Studies reveal that the primary reasons that most individuals give for not having taken a CPR course is 1. lack of time/opportunity and 2. location/convenience.¹³ Additionally, interview data suggest that people have performance anxiety about the class setting.¹⁴ Providing individuals with the option of learning CPR in a comfortable, non-intimidating location of their choosing, at their own time and pace, bears the strongest likelihood of adoption, particularly in the age groups (over 50) most likely to witness a cardiac arrest.¹⁵

Emergency University seeks to increase the training options available to individuals who wish to provide life supporting CPR skills to victims of out of hospital sudden cardiac arrest. Emergency University offers blended CPR and AED training that combines multi-media on-line training modules with traditional instructor led classroom instruction to maximize the learning potential of all adult learners. The multi-media training can be completed alone, without scrutiny, in the location of the trainee's choosing, where they feel most comfortable, and at the pace they are comfortable learning. Upon completing the multi-media training and testing modules, nationally certified instructors provide demonstration, coaching and validation to ensure that students are comfortable and confident in their skills.

Emergency University's multimedia CPR and AED training programs combine clinical animations, interactive learning tools, descriptive photographs, audio and text to maximize the learning potential of all adults. Each training module includes audio for the auditory learner, text for the reader, photographs and graphics for the visual learner, and animations for trainees who need to understand how things work to retain new information.

The online training modules create an interactive multimedia learning environment that provide a consistent quality of instruction. The training programs allow each trainee to learn at their own pace and to review the material as often as necessary or desired. In addition, the AED training modules are individually customized to the unique visual and voice prompts of each manufacturer's automated external defibrillator allowing the student to learn about the model they are most likely to operate.

Here's How Blended Training Works:

Multiple studies confirm that the optimal learning environment affords the learner a choice of modalities and control over the sequence and pace of learning. In a 15-city evaluation of blended CPR training presented at the American Public Health Association in November 2003, trainees who completed blended CPR training programs outperformed their traditional classroom counterparts in all assessment categories. (p<0.009) Trainees further stated that they preferred the blended training format. CPR Education that Works: "A Web-based Blended Learning Approach", Anthony C. Gallagher, Research and Product Development, National Headquarters, American Red Cross.

Developed by experienced medical professionals, Emergency University's online training programs meet the latest 2005 guidelines established by International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and the American Heart Association (AHA) and have been approved by the American Safety and Health Institute since 2001.

Emergency University has the academic and educational expertise to ensure that the AED and CPR training it provides utilizes the latest research proven educational methodologies. Emergency University has the clinical experience to focus the training on achieving successful clinical outcomes. Emergency University's medical professionals developed the First AED responder program in both the public and private sectors in the United States in the late 1980s. EU's published professionals designed and implemented the first public sector program for the San Francisco Fire Department in 1987 and the first private sector AED responder program at Candlestick Park for the San Francisco Giants in 1989. Now 18 years later, our team of academic emergency medical professional and innovative educators provide CPR and AED training to over 20,000 new students/year.

Since 2002, Emergency University's CPR and AED blended training programs have been exclusively selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Occupational Health Agency, OSHA, and the Department of Labor to train federal employees nationwide in federal Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs. In the private sector, Emergency University provides blended CPR and AED training to over 4000 businesses nationwide including Abbott Labs, CSX Transportation, Eli Lilly, General Electric, Google, Levi-Strauss, Pepsico, Proctor & Gamble; as well as hundreds of Police Departments, Fire Departments, Hospitals, Clinics, EMS Agencies, Ambulance Services, physician and dental offices, and universities throughout the US and abroad.

Emergency University has provided training to over 50,000 trainees nationwide over the past 3 years. 99% of trainees who completed post instruction evaluations stated they believed very strongly (on a scale of 1-5) that*:

• The training program provided them with sufficient information to understand when to provide basic life support skills.
• The training program provided them with sufficient information to understand how to provide basic life support skills.
• The training program provided them with sufficient information to understand when to use a defibrillator.
• The training program provided them with sufficient information to understand how to use a defibrillator.
• Found that the skills session provided them with the skills necessary to perform CPR and operate an AED in an emergency.
• Would recommend Emergency University's blended training program to other agencies/organizations that require CPR/AED training.

Emergency University ensures standardized training through comprehensive quality assurance programs that monitor instructor qualifications and instructional content and delivery.

The Blended Training QA program ensures that all students who are issued certification cards for one or more of Emergency University's blended training classes have successfully completed all elements of the training program.

The Instructor QA program ensures that each instructor who provides classroom training for Emergency University has the knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience and National Credentials necessary to conduct training classes in Adult CPR, Child Infant CPR, Foreign Body Airway Obstruction and Automatic External Defibrillation.

¹ The American Heart Association CPR anytime Program: The potential impact of Highly accessible training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation., Potts, J., Lynch, B., Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation: 26(6) 346 Nov/Dec

² The American Heart Association CPR anytime Program: The potential impact of Highly accessible training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation., Potts, J., Lynch, B., Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation: 26(6) 347 Nov/Dec

³ The American Heart Association CPR anytime Program: The potential impact of Highly accessible training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation., Potts, J., Lynch, B., Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation: 26(6) 347 Nov/Dec

⁴ The American Heart Association CPR anytime Program: The potential impact of Highly accessible training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation., Potts, J., Lynch, B., Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation: 26(6) 347 Nov/Dec

⁵ Esenberg MS, Bergner L, Hallstrom A. Cardiac resuscitation in the community: importance of rapid provision and implications for program planning. JAMA. 1979;241(18):1905-1907

⁶ Roth R, Stewart RD, Rogers K, Cannon GM. Ot-of-hospital cardiac arrest:factors associated with survival. Ann Emerg Med. 1984;13(4) 237-243

⁷ Swor RA, Jackson RE, Cynar M et al. Bystander CPR, ventricular fibrillation, and survival in witnessed, unmonitored out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Ann Emerg Med. 1995;25(6): 780-784

⁸ Weaver WD, Cobb LA, Hallstrom AP, Fahrenbruck C, Copass MK, Ray R. Factors influencing survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. J. Am Coll Cardol. 1986;7 (4):752-757

⁹ Engdahl J, Bang A, Lindqvist J, Herlitz J. Factors affecting short-and long-term prognosis among 1069 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and pulseless electrical activity. Resuscitation. 2001;51 (1): 17-25

¹⁰ Holmberg M, Holmberg S, Herlitz J. Factors modifying the effect of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation on survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients in Sweden. Eur Heart J. 2001;22 (6):511-519

¹¹ Holmberg M. Holmberg S, Herlitz J. Effect of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients in Sweden. Resuscitation. 2000;47 (1):59-70.

¹² The American Heart Association CPR anytime Program: The potential impact of Highly accessible training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation., Potts, J., Lynch, B., Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation: 26(6) 351 Nov/Dec

¹³ Locke CJ Berg RA, Sanders AB et al. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Concerns about mouth-mouth contact. Arch Intern Med. 1995; 155(9):938-943.

¹⁴ Flint LS, Billi JE, Kelly K, Mandel L., et al., Education in adult basic life support training programs. Ann Emerg Med. 1993;22(2pt2):468-474.

¹⁵ The American Heart Association CPR anytime Program: The potential impact of Highly accessible training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation., Potts, J., Lynch, B., Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation: 26(6) 351 Nov/Dec

¹⁶ Plass J, Chun D, Mayer RE, et al (1998): Supporting visual and verbal learning preferences in a second-language multimedia-learning environment. Journal of Educational Psychology Vol 90:1:25-35.

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