Abstract
Background Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) metrics including compression rate and depth are associated with improved outcomes and the need for high-quality CPR is emphasized in both the American Heart Association (AHA) and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC) guidelines. While these metrics can be utilized to assess the quality of CPR, they are infrequently measured in an objective fashion in the emergency department. Objectives As part of an Emergency Department (ED) Quality Improvement (QI) project, we sought to determine the impact of real-time audio-visual (AV) feedback during CPR amongst ED healthcare providers. Methods Participants performed two minutes of uninterrupted CPR without AV feedback, followed by two minutes of CPR with AV feedback after a two-minute rest period in a simulated CPR setting. CPR metrics were captured by the defibrillator and uploaded to review software for analysis of each event. Results The use of real-time AV feedback resulted in a significant improvement in the number of participants meeting AHA/HSFC recommended depth (38%, p = 0.0003) and rate (35%, p = 0.0002). Importantly, 'compressions in target', where participants met both rate and depth simultaneously, improved with AV feedback (19 vs 61%, p < 0.0001). Conclusions We found a significant improvement in compliance with CPR depth and rate targets as well as 'compressions in target' with the use of real-time AV feedback during simulation training. Future research is needed to ascertain whether these results would be replicated in other settings. Our findings do provide a robust argument for the implementation of real-time AV CPR feedback in Hamilton Emergency Departments.