Attitude And Willingness Of Collegiate Student Athletes In Hands-only Cpr/aed Use

PURPOSE: Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in athletes during exercise. No formal training program of collegiate student athletes in hands-only CPR/AED use exists. Collegiate student athletes often participate in non-formal training events without the presence of medical support staff. We sought to determine the attitudes and willingness of collegiate athletes in hands-only CPR/AED use before and after a formal training session. METHODS: Training in hands-only CPR/AED use was offered to Vanderbilt student athletes following the well-established training model by Project ADAM of middle Tennessee in a 60 minute session. We then conducted a voluntary cross-sectional survey to evaluate prior experience, knowledge, comfort level and willingness to perform hands-only CPR/AED use on a fellow student athletes. RESULTS: 12 athletes participated in the hands-only CPR/AED Use training session, of which 7 completed both the pre-training and post-training surveys given immediately before and after the training session (87.5%). Only 3 of 7 athletes (43%) responded that they had prior CPR training of any kind. 6 of the 7 athletes (86%) responded that they would feel more comfortable doing hands-only CPR versus mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Confidence in using an AED improved from 43% (3/7) to 86% (6/7) with training, along with improvement in knowledge of how an AED works from 43% (3/7) to 100% (7/7). CONCLUSION: This pilot study identified that training collegiate athletes in hands-only CPR/AED use may be effective in changing attitudes and willingness towards resuscitation of fellow student athletes.