Using Interactive Digital Media to Teach Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation to High School Students

Abstract Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest affects over 350,000 people in the U.S. annually, but only 10.8% survive. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves survival, but rates of training in the U.S. are low. It is recently required by law in 39 U.S. states that high school students learn CPR. However, current methods of teaching CPR use outdated pedagogical strategies and expensive devices. Previous data indicates that only 12% of students are able to perform high-quality CPR 6 months following standard training. The purpose of this project is to create an interactive video game experience to teach CPR in classrooms. In phase I, we created an interactive digital film depicting a dramatic cardiac arrest, a prototype “CPR Spring” to replace traditional CPR manikins, and a plan for interactivity between the device and the film. Preliminary data showed that the interactive video alone (without the paired CPR Spring) improved CPR skill acquisition and retention by 50% in high school students, compared to standard classroom training. The CPR Spring device has properties that more closely mimic a real human chest than competitor devices. The combined CPR Spring + Interactive Film was feasible in a classroom setting, engaging to students, and easy to use for teachers. In phase II of this grant, we will build upon the success of phase I to create a commercially-ready interactive CPR video game experience. This experience will include a new interactive CPR film featuring a female victim, addressing gender disparities in bystander CPR. This film will interact with an improved version of the CPR Spring, which communicates wirelessly with the film through mobile device-based app and school computer via the local Wi-Fi network, providing real-time CPR quality feedback for each Spring simultaneously while the film is playing. The interactive CPR video game experience will improve upon current methods of training, by being: 1) Emotionally Engaging via realistic cardiac arrest film footage; 2) Multi-sensory, engaging tactile, auditory, visual, and psychomotor skills; 3) Realistic, both the tactile feel of the CPR Spring AND the realistic film; 4) More interactive, through answering team-based questions and receiving real-time CPR quality feedback; 5) Affordable and practical, as it does not require an instructor; and 6) Modern, mimicking a video game experience. We will compare our video game method to standard CPR training in schools, reporting outcomes including longitudinal CPR skill retention, engagement, and emotional response. Our goal is to develop a commercially-ready product that is 1/10th the cost and 1/5th the size of current CPR manikins and requires no instructor, thereby offering a low-cost, low-profile, more effective CPR course. This product has the potential to become the predominant method for training CPR in North America, which could lead to more saved lives after cardiac arrest.