Facilitators and Barriers Perceived by German Teachers Considering Basic Life Support Education in School-A Qualitative Study.

This qualitative study aims to analyse the personal qualification, attitudes and the pedagogical concepts of German teachers as experts in their profession regarding basic life support (BLS) education in secondary schools. Thirteen (n = 13) secondary school teachers participated in semi-structured expert interviews and were interviewed for at least 20 to 60 min regarding BLS student education. Interviews were semi-structured with guiding questions addressing (1) personal experience, (2) teacher qualification for BLS and (3) implementation factors (e.g., personal, material and organisational). Audio-recorded interviews were analysed by content analysis, generating a coding system. School teachers provided a heterogeneous view on implementation-related processes in BLS education. Many teachers were educated in first aid, acknowledge its importance, but had no experience in teaching BLS. They want to assure being competent for teaching BLS and need tailored trainings, materials, pedagogical information and the incorporation into the curriculum. Also, the management of time constraints, unwilling colleagues, or young students being overwhelmed were commonly mentioned considerations. Concluding, teachers reported to be willing to teach BLS but a stepwise implementation framework incorporating practice-oriented qualification and educational goals is missing.

[Evaluation of the project for the introduction of bystander resuscitation in schools in North Rhine-Westphalia]. / Evaluation des Projekts zur Einführung von Laienreanimation an Schulen in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

BACKGROUND: Teaching of resuscitation measures is not mandatory in all schools in Germany. It is currently limited to individual, partly mandatory projects despite a low bystander resuscitation rate. For this reason, the Ministry for Schools and Education of North Rhine-Westphalia initiated the project "Bystander resuscitation at schools in NRW" in March 2017. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to evaluate this project. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All secondary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia were invited to participate in the project. Medical partners from each administrative district took part, who carried out resuscitation training with existing concepts for teacher or student training. After a 3-year period, the evaluation was carried out using standardized questionnaires for school headmasters, teachers and students. RESULTS: In total, more than 40,000 pupils from 249 schools in NRW could be trained in resuscitation within the project with 6 different concepts. Of the students 85% answered the questions regarding resuscitation correctly and overall felt safe in resuscitation measures. The one-off investment requirement for all schools is roughly 4-6.5 million € and around 340,000 € in each budget year. CONCLUSION: A legal constitution and funding are necessary for a nationwide introduction of resuscitation in schools. All established concepts are effective, therefore each school can use them exactly according to their needs, optimally in a stepped form. Training for teachers should focus on resuscitation.