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AAP: Children can be educated in assisting those in cardiac arrest
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Children and teenagers can play a pivotal role in supporting individuals experiencing cardiac arrest in settings outside the hospital by engaging bystanders, performing CPR and using automated external defibrillators when available, according to a policy statement issued by the AAP.
The policy statement stresses the importance of proper education on these support tactics and how education can be incorporated into the school setting and throughout the community.
“There are precious few minutes to waste when someone suffers a cardiac arrest, and it is especially tragic when children are affected,” Susan M. Fuchs, MD, FAAP, from the department of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, said in a press release. “We know that by empowering people with information and the right equipment, bystanders are more likely to take quick action.”
Callahan and Fuchs cite that out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) affects more than 6,000 children and 300,000 adults annually, and survival rates are low for both age groups; however, bystanders who can perform CPR have been found to increase the likelihood of survival with promising neurologic outcomes.
Adults who experience OCHA likely have an initial cardiac rhythm that can be treated using an automated external defibrillator (AED). Despite the American Heart Association’s recommendation to use AEDs in people who experience OHCA when a manual defibrillator is available, the use of these devices is less common in children than in adults. The researchers note that older children and adolescents are more likely to receive this treatment than younger children.
Furthermore, older children and adolescents can be effectively taught to perform CPR and use AEDs. This has been demonstrated in the 30 states that include CPR training as a requirement for high school graduation.
The researchers recommend the following steps to ensure proper support among children, adolescents and adults experiencing OHCA:
- Pediatricians should be knowledgeable of current recommendations for CPR in addition to basic and advanced pediatric life support, which include the use of CPR and AED in settings other than the hospital; and
- Mandates for CPR training and AED placement in public and private schools should be promoted by pediatricians in collaboration with parents and legislators.
Additionally, advocacy and support from pediatricians should be given to:
- Age-appropriate life support training for children, which should be added to school curriculum and could include educating young children how to find help for those experiencing OHCA, training older children and teenagers CPR and informing adolescents about AED use;
- Training all school staff in pediatric life support;
- Educating parents, caregivers and members of the public on life support in settings such as schools, hospitals and other community settings; and
- Placing AEDs in appropriate places for the treatment of adults and children in schools within the community and providing proper training for their use. Placement should begin in high schools and should expand to other schools, if funding allows.
“Children can be taught from a young age how to call for help, how to perform CPR and even how to operate an AED,” James M. Callahan, MD, FAAP, from the division of emergency medicine in the department of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said in the release. “The more comfortable we can make people with these life-saving techniques, the more likely people who need them will receive them and the better chance that we see good outcomes.” – by Katherine Bortz
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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