Ask CCRM: Effectiveness of Online-Only CPR Training

A Continuing Care Risk Management (CCRM) member asked about online-only certification for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that provides video- and web-based instruction but no hands-on component.

Safe, effective performance of CPR requires not just knowledge but practical skills as well. A 2009 study compared online-only training that lacked a hands-on component and traditional classroom training that included a hands-on component. Sixty-four undergraduates, none of whom had ever been trained in CPR, were placed into two groups: one for online-only training and one for classroom-based training. After undergoing training, both groups took a knowledge-based test and underwent skill performance evaluation. For the skill performance evaluation, trained evaluators indicated whether the trainees properly completed each of 14 steps as they performed CPR on computerized manikins, and the manikins electronically measured six performance variables: compression location, depth, rate, and release and ventilation flow rate and volume. (Computerized manikins are hands-on,...