A Short Intervention Followed by an Interactive E-Learning Module to Motivate Medical Students to Enlist as First Responders: Protocol for a Prospective Implementation Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND In Geneva, Switzerland, basic life support (BLS) maneuvers are provided in only 40% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) cases. As OHCA outcomes are markedly improved when BLS maneuvers are swiftly applied, a “first-responder” system was introduced in 2019. When emergency dispatchers identify a possible OHCA, first responders receive an alert message on a specific app (Save-a-Life) installed on their smartphones. Those nearest to the victim and immediately available are sent the exact location of the intervention. First-year medical students only have limited knowledge regarding BLS procedures but might nevertheless need to take care of OHCA victims. Medical students responding to out-of-hospital emergencies are off-duty in half of these situations, and offering junior medical students the opportunity to enlist as first responders might therefore not only improve OHCA outcomes but also foster a greater recognition of the role medical students can hold in our society. OBJECTIVE Our aim is to determine whether providing first-year medical students with a short intervention followed by an interactive e-learning module can motivate them to enlist as first responders. METHODS After obtaining the approval of the regional ethics committee and of the vice-dean for undergraduate education of the University of Geneva Faculty of Medicine (UGFM), 2 senior medical students will present the project to their first-year colleagues at the beginning of a lecture. First-year students will then be provided with a link to an interactive e-learning module which has been designed according to the Swiss Resuscitation Council’s first aid guidelines. After answering a first questionnaire and completing the module, students will be able to register for practice sessions. Those attending and successfully completing these sessions will receive a training certificate which will enable them to enlist as first responders. The primary outcome will be the proportion of first-year medical students enlisting as first responders at the end of the study period. Secondary outcomes will be the proportion of first-year medical students electing to register on the platform, to begin the e-learning module, to complete the e-learning module, to register for practice sessions, to attend the practice sessions, and to obtain a certificate. The reasons given by medical students for refusing to participate will be analyzed. We will also assess how comfortable junior medical students would feel to be integrated into the first responders system at the end of the training program and whether it affects the registration rate. RESULTS The regional ethics committee (Req-2020-01143) and the UGFM vice-dean for undergraduate education have given their approval to the realization of this study, which is scheduled to begin in January 2021. CONCLUSIONS This study should determine whether a short intervention followed by an interactive e-learning module can motivate first-year medical students to enlist as first responders. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT PRR1-10.2196/24664

[1]  M. Abbas,et al.  Effect of an E-Learning Module on Personal Protective Equipment Proficiency Among Prehospital Personnel: Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial , 2020, Journal of medical Internet research.

[2]  J. Blacher,et al.  Blended Learning Compared to Traditional Learning in Medical Education: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis , 2020, Journal of medical Internet research.

[3]  Ridhaa Remtulla.  The Present and Future Applications of Technology in Adapting Medical Education Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic , 2020, JMIR medical education.

[4]  Mélanie Suppan,et al.  Teaching Adequate Prehospital Use of Personal Protective Equipment During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of a Gamified e-Learning Module , 2020, JMIR serious games.

[5]  M. Arroyo-Morales,et al.  A Blended Learning System to Improve Motivation, Mood State, and Satisfaction in Undergraduate Students: Randomized Controlled Trial , 2019, Journal of medical Internet research.

[6]  E. Carrera,et al.  Teaching the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale to Paramedics (E-Learning vs Video): Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint) , 2020 .

[7]  B. Böttiger,et al.  Final-year medical students' knowledge of cardiac arrest and CPR: We must do more! , 2019, International journal of cardiology.

[8]  S. Guerin,et al.  Motivation, challenges and realities of volunteer community cardiac arrest response: a qualitative study of ‘lay’ community first responders , 2019, BMJ Open.

[9]  R. Frost,et al.  Not quite a doctor, but should I help? A qualitative exploration of medical students’ attitudes towards responding to medical emergencies that occur in the public domain , 2019, BMJ Open.

[10]  J. Soar,et al.  European Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation: 2018 Update - Antiarrhythmic drugs for cardiac arrest. , 2019, Resuscitation.

[11]  C. Gomar,et al.  Cost minimization analysis for basic life support. , 2019, Resuscitation.

[12]  D. K. Ting,et al.  Medical Students Learn Professionalism in Near-Peer Led, Discussion-Based Small Groups , 2018, Teaching and learning in medicine.

[13]  T. Kitamura,et al.  Public-access automated external defibrillation and bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation in schools: a nationwide investigation in Japan , 2018, Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology.

[14]  Mubasher A Qamar,et al.  Do medical students studying in the United Kingdom have an adequate factual knowledge of basic life support? , 2019, World journal of emergency medicine.

[15]  F. Sarasin,et al.  Improvement of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rate after implementation of the 2010 resuscitation guidelines , 2018, PloS one.

[16]  C. Zammit,et al.  Perceptions of first‐year medical students towards learning anatomy using cadaveric specimens through peer teaching , 2018, Anatomical sciences education.

[17]  C. Gomar,et al.  Basic life support and external defibrillation competences after instruction and at 6 months comparing face-to-face and blended training. Randomised trial. , 2018, Nurse education today.

[18]  Chung-Guei Huang,et al.  Cognitive Style and Mobile E-Learning in Emergent Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Disorders for Millennial Undergraduate Medical Students: Randomized Controlled Trial , 2018, Journal of medical Internet research.

[19]  Kristine Elliott,et al.  Selection and Use of Online Learning Resources by First-Year Medical Students: Cross-Sectional Study , 2017, JMIR medical education.

[20]  M. Sayre,et al.  Part 3: Adult basic life support and automated external defibrillation: 2015 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science with Treatment Recommendations. , 2015, Resuscitation.

[21]  W. Seligman,et al.  Initial experience in setting up a medical student first responder scheme in South Central England , 2015, Emergency Medicine Journal.

[22]  Monique L. Anderson,et al.  Association of Bystander and First-Responder Intervention With Survival After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in North Carolina, 2010-2013. , 2015, JAMA.

[23]  A. Almeman,et al.  Basic life support knowledge of healthcare students and professionals in the Qassim University. , 2014, International journal of health sciences.

[24]  S. Roshana,et al.  Basic life support: knowledge and attitude of medical/paramedical professionals. , 2012, World journal of emergency medicine.

[25]  H. Cameron,et al.  Are medical graduates ready to face the challenges of Foundation training? , 2011, Postgraduate Medical Journal.

[26]  D. Cook,et al.  Instructional Design Variations in Internet-Based Learning for Health Professions Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis , 2010, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

[27]  Gunther Eysenbach,et al.  Improving the Quality of Web Surveys: The Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) , 2004, Journal of medical Internet research.