Abstract:

The widespread use of information technology devices (ITD) has led to the emergence of new learning tools. Especially in higher-education, self-learning through ITD has advantages such as the absence of time and space constraints, easy acquisition of learning materials and autonomy. First aid is the initial care provided by any type of responder to an acute illness or injury. Immediate and quality actions are essential for survival. Bystander initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) remains suboptimal in some countries (average 50%; range 13-83%)(6).

Therefore, education of the entire population is highly recommended by the European Resuscitation Council (ERC), which also endorses the use of self-learning as part of a blended learning approach to CPR. Clinical simulation is an experiential methodology that recreates real situations to practice in a safe environment without risks, and it is a cornerstone to learn first aid topics. The purpose of the project is twofold:
(1) to design a course in first aid for non-health professions students combining self-learning followed by simulation and
(2) to train non-health professions students on first aid topics by a medical student.

The project comprises three phases:
(i) need detection;
(ii) design;
(iii) implementation.

The paper describes the first two being the third going to be developed in April-May 2024.

For phase (i) an ad-hoc survey aimed at exploring which first aid topics were most relevant to be addressed among early childhood education students was administered among early childhood and primary school teachers using Microsoft formsᴿ web application. Data was transferred to a spreadsheet and descriptive statistics and frequency analysis by associated concepts were applied. For phase (ii) the recommendations of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC), for course topics development, and of the Centre d’Innovació, Simulació i Alt Rendiment Clínic (CISARC) and the Simzone model, for the simulations structure and scenarios, were used. The pre- and post-training first aid knowledge tests were designed ad-hoc and evaluated by a group of experts. The expert group consisted of 3 physicians with more than 10 years of experience in the field of emergency medicine in Catalonia, Spain. Content of the evaluation and checklist for simulation was evaluated using a Likert scale of 5 values, from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), being a minimum value of 4 by 2/3 experts the requirement for inclusion.

In phase (i) 53 pre-school and primary school teachers participated. They identified CPR, airway obstruction and seizure management as the three most relevant topics to know about first aid. In phase (ii), three theoretical sessions of one hour each were created based on reading and visual resources. After two rounds of consults with experts three tests were created with its checklists to assess participants before and after the training. The simulation model identified the design of simulation scenarios in zone 0 and zone 1 for the acquisition of the basic first aid competencies selected in phase (i). A clinical simulation teaching-guide was designed for each topic.

The development of new educational tools favors dynamic learning and the incorporation of electronic devices as facilitating materials. In addition, the incorporation of clinical simulation for non-health professionals offers great potential for learning techniques and skills in a safe environment.

Keywords:

Mobile Applications, Learning, Simulation Training, Education, Graduate.