Video-assisted First Aid by Young Children

University of Pecs

Status: Completed

Conditions: Unconsciousness

Treatments: Behavioral: Video-Assisted Guidance Without Prior Training; Behavioral: First Aid Training Combined With Video-Assisted Guidance

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07106697

Video-assisted first aid

Details and patient eligibility

About

Sudden cardiac arrest is a major public health issue, and EMS dispatchers play a key role in improving outcomes through telephone-assisted CPR (T-CPR). With current technology, video-assisted CPR (V-CPR) via smartphones allows for visual feedback and more precise guidance. While V-CPR has shown promise, studies have mostly focused on adult CPR performance in controlled settings. Research involving children and non-CPR first aid scenarios is scarce. Our study addresses this gap by evaluating video-assisted guidance during a simulated unconsciousness situation performed by children, exploring its feasibility and broader applicability.

Full description

Sudden cardiac arrest is a major public health concern and remains one of the leading causes of death in industrialized countries. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) dispatchers play a crucial role in recognizing cardiac arrest and guiding lay responders through telephone-assisted CPR (T-CPR), which has been shown to improve survival outcomes. With current technologies, real-time video communication via a bystander's smartphone has become feasible, enabling video-assisted CPR (V-CPR), which allows dispatchers to provide visual feedback and more tailored guidance.

Although several studies have investigated the effectiveness of V-CPR-mainly in terms of chest compression quality and time to first compression-these have primarily focused on adult participants and controlled settings. Research involving children as lay responders is limited, and video-assisted first aid has been scarcely evaluated in pediatric populations. Moreover, existing studies concentrate predominantly on CPR, while other essential first aid scenarios, such as the management of unconscious victims, remain underexplored.

To address these gaps, our study examined the effectiveness of video-assisted guidance during a simulated unconsciousness scenario performed by children, aiming to assess both the feasibility and potential benefits of extending video-assisted firs aid approaches beyond cardiac arrest.

Enrollment: 110 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 8 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• healthy children aged 6 to 8 years (first grade of primary school)

Exclusion criteria

• children with known physical, cognitive, or communication impairments that could interfere with participation in simulated first aid tasks
• technical issue during data collection

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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110 participants in 3 patient groups

Training and video-assistance

Experimental group

Description:

Received a 45-minute theoretical and practical training session on assessing unconsciousness and managing an unresponsive victim, based on ILCOR first aid guidelines, followed by a 15-minute technical session on how to initiate and operate video assistance via a smartphone. Both sessions were conducted by a paramedic experienced in pediatric first aid education and emergency dispatching.

Treatment:

Behavioral: First Aid Training Combined With Video-Assisted Guidance

Video-assistance only

Experimental group

Description:

Received a 15-minute technical session exclusively focused on operating the video assistance technology (without first aid instruction). This session was conducted by the same paramedic as in Group 1.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Video-Assisted Guidance Without Prior Training

No assistance

No Intervention group

Description:

Received no preparatory training (control group).