Paediatric life support instructors courses in Spain

Between October 1996 and February 1998 we have provided five PLS instructor s courses for 127 physicians. The instructor course takes 20-24 h over in 3 days, with 20-36 students per course. Theory classes last 5 h and practica l stations between 14 and 18 h. Theory classes include: types and organisat ion of paediatric courses, resuscitation material, methodology of education , didactic methods, and methods of evaluation. The practical classes includ e techniques of oral expression, resuscitation material and methodology, an d evaluation of basic life support, airway and ventilation, venous and intr aosseous access, diagnosis and treatment of arrythmias, neonatal resuscitat ion and advanced resuscitation. At the end of the course the students perfo rm an anonymous written evaluation of the course with scores between 1 (ver y bad), 2, 3, 4 and 5 (very good). Theoretical aspects practical classes, m ethodology, and organisation of the PLS instructors courses are considered satisfactory by the students. We conclude that PLS instructors courses are important for assuring the uniformity and quality of paediatric life suppor t courses. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.