Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Animated Images in First Aid for Infants with Foreign Body Airway Obstruction: A Simulation Study

<b>Background:</b> Foreign body airway obstruction is a sudden emergency that can occur unexpectedly in healthy people, leading to severe consequences if immediate first aid is not provided. Unlike the Heimlich maneuver for adults, the first aid for infant choking is less widely known and more complex, making it difficult to explain verbally. This study aimed to assess the efficiency of using an animated graphics interchange format (GIF) to teach first aid for infant choking due to foreign bodies. <b>Methods:</b> Eighty adults who had not received recent training in choking first aid within the last two years were randomly assigned to either the auditory (<i>n</i> = 40) or audiovisual (<i>n</i> = 40) groups. The participants were asked to perform first aid on an infant manikin under the guidance of a researcher using a smartphone in a separate room. The auditory group received verbal instructions only, while the audiovisual group received animated GIFs on their smartphones along with verbal instructions simultaneously. The entire process was recorded with two cameras, and two emergency physicians reviewed the videos to assess the adequacy of the first aid administered. <b>Results:</b> The "infant position", "supporting arm posture", and "head tilt" were more adequate in the audiovisual group. The Instruction Performance scores were higher in the audiovisual group. There was no significant difference in the time required to administer first aid between the two groups. <b>Conclusions:</b> Audiovisual guidance using animated GIFs has been shown to effectively enhance the adequacy of first-aid performance for infant airway obstruction caused by foreign bodies.