TOWARDS EARLY DEFIBRILLATION - A NURSE TRAINING-PROGRAM IN THE USE OFAUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS

It is essential that all health care professionals are regularly train ed in the practice of basic life support (BLS). In most cases of cardi ac arrest, the chances of a favourable outcome depend not only on effi cient BLS, but also on the early use of defibrillation. In a hospital environment, the first responders are most likely to be members of the nursing staff. The potential advantage of these personnel being able to perform early defibrillation, as well as BLS, is considerable. We d escribe an initiative in which instruction in the use of automated ext ernal defibrillators (AEDs) was introduced into routine BLS training s essions, with the aim of developing this capability. Using specificall y-acquired training aids, 43 nurses and nine other members of the non- medical staff were trained in 12 teaching sessions over a period of 4 months. Refresher training was carried out after 6 months and 37 nurse s were retrained during six sessions using a similar syllabus. The pro gramme was well-received by all students, and a higher than expected l evel of motivation and competence was achieved. Throughout retraining all nurses appreciated the key importance of early defibrillation. We conclude that, although the initial workload is high, it is entirely f easible to augment BLS training for health care professionals with ins truction in the use of AEDs. We recommend that this potentially life-s aving tuition programme be widely adopted.