Study design and participants
A single-blind randomized trial was conducted at a university clinical training center in July–October 2020 The study had received ethical approval from Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University (REC-63-044-1-1, approved on 21 February 2020) and had performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Eligibility screening was performed among 5th -year and 6th -year medical students. The students were eligible if they could participate in the simulation on the specified date. Participants were excluded if they had physical limitations affecting chest compression performance. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. They were then assigned to a four-member team by registration order. All teams were randomly allocated into the intervention (use the XXX-CPR Helper) or control group in a 1:1 ratio by computer-generated blocked randomization. The team assignment and random sequence for group allocation were concealed in an e-mail sent to a research assistant who was not involved in outcome assessments.
Device used
We used a prototype for a novel CPR assist device (referred to as the XXX-CPR Helper) developed and created by the Med PSU Innovation unit. The XXX-CPR Helper provided three functions: a metronome that was set at 100 bpm, a stopwatch for recording CPR duration, and voice alarms for pulse checks (2-min cycles) and adrenaline administration (3-min cycles). Both alarms could be reset by pressing a start/shock button (defibrillation button) (Fig. 1A). The device was designed to be placed and transported on a resuscitation or emergency trolley (Fig. 1B) and had dimensions of 16.5 cm (width)×20.5 mm (height)×7 cm (depth). The volume of the speaker was set at 100 dB to be discernable over background noise in a real-world CPR setting.
When the resuscitators initiated CPR and pressed the shock/start button (defibrillation button), the timer counted down from 2 min, and a voice prompt (“2 min, check pulse”) was provided after each 2-min CC cycle completion. Another timer simultaneously counted down from 3 min, and the voice prompt provided at the end of each 3-min cycle for adrenaline administration was “3 min, give adrenaline” (Fig. 2). The voice audio clip used for the alarm was recorded by a native English speaker. The accuracy of the metronome and time interval settings for each voice alarm were calibrated and checked in the innovation-unit laboratory.
Study protocol
On the CPR simulation day, all registered participants attended a 1 h lecture by a certified American Heart Association Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) instructor, who reviewed the core knowledge of pediatric resuscitation (in accordance with the 2020 PALS guideline). The teams sequentially entered a simulation room. The simulation-based resuscitator team generally required at least four individuals. If a team lost a member for any reason, this individual was substituted by a simulation assistant who was not involved in outcome assessment for assisted ventilation during CPR simulation. A team that lost more than one member was excluded. Before beginning the simulation, instructions on the use of the entire resuscitation equipment in the simulation room were provided. A demonstration of XXX-CPR Helper use was only provided to participants in the intervention group. Participants in the control group were allowed to keep track of time via other means (e.g., digital watch, analog watch, or clock application on a smartphone) during the simulation.
The same pediatric cardiac arrest scenario, set on the SimMan 3G Laerdal® manikin, was used in both groups (Fig. 1C). This scenario required resuscitators to perform three CPR cycles (Fig. 2); these were initiated with pulseless ventricular fibrillation, followed by immediate defibrillation and a subsequent cycle of high-quality CC. At the end of the first CPR cycle, the cardiac rhythm progressed to pulseless electrical activity, which required another two cycles of CC and a dose of adrenaline before returning to spontaneous circulation. The information was transferred wirelessly from the manikin to a backup computer. All events and measurements during the simulation were recorded and collected directly by the Laerdal Learning Application (LLEAP)™ simulation software program
Endpoints and data collection
Data concerning age, sex, weight, height, and previous resuscitation experience were collected. Events during the simulation were processed and reported by LLEAP™. CC performance was evaluated using the average CC rate (bpm), depth (mm), and percentage of full recoil. CC pause time was defined as the amount of time without CC, and the CC fraction was defined as the ratio of time with CC to the total CPR duration. The CPR cycle time was the interval between the current rhythm analysis and the previous rhythm analysis and/or defibrillation.
The primary outcome was the percentage of teams that adhered to the CPR algorithm, defined by the following four criteria:
1) Average CC rate of 100–120/min in each simulation
2) First defibrillation within 1 min after a shockable rhythm was identified
3) First adrenaline dose administered within 3 min after CC initiation
4) CC cycle time of approximately 2 min (120 s).
The resuscitator teams were considered to have exhibited good adherence to the PALS algorithm if at least three of four adherence criteria were met. Secondary outcomes included the quality of CC throughout the simulation, average CC rate (bpm), percentage of a proper CC rate (defined as a CC rate of 100–120/min) [7], average CC depth (mm), percentage of proper CC depth (defined as > 50 mm),7 percentage of full CC recoil, CC fraction (percentage), and time of first adrenaline dose administration after defibrillation.
Statistical analysis
The sample size was determined based on a formula for the evaluation of binary data from randomized controlled studies and the predefined outcome (percentage of adherence to the PALS algorithm). Assuming that XXX-CPR Helper use would increase the adherence percentage to 90%, compared with 50% in the control group, at least 34 teams (17 teams for each group) were required; this number increased by 10% (38 teams) to account for dropouts (α = 0.05, 80% power). As the simulation-based resuscitator team generally required at least four individuals, 152 participants were required. Data were analyzed using STATA version R 4.0.2 (College Station, TX, USA). Continuous variables are presented as means and standard deviations (or medians and interquartile ranges), while categorical variables are presented as frequencies and percentages. The independent samples-t test was used for continuous outcomes, and Pearson’s chi-squared, or Fisher’s exact test was applied for categorical outcomes, as appropriate. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.