Use of an Observer Tool to Improve Learning Outcomes for Cardiac Arrest Management

Only approximately 10.4% of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survive their initial hospitalization. The very early management of cardiac arrest is indeed considered an extremely important criterion to improve patients' outcome. Despite recent advances and improved results, outcomes remain poor, especially because bystanders are not well trained to manage such a crisis situation. According to the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, teaching and learning the knowledge, skills and attitudes of resuscitation with the ultimate aim of improving patient survival after cardiac arrest is thus an essential goal. Teaching and learning strategies are numerous and have been well described and reviewed recently. Considering initial training methods already requires attention as study results often fail to show complete and effective learning after the initial training. Educational efficiency may be improved by several means (for example use of digital media) but it is now clear that more effective training strategies, i.e. those focusing on the cognitive process which leads to inclusion in memory), are needed. One recently introduced strategy, mainly in the field of simulation, is the use of observer tools. It has been shown that although effectiveness was still poorly demonstrated, this method had the potential to improve learning outcomes. An observer tool is a document which is used by observers during a scenario played by other learners and immediately compares the player's technical or non-technical skills with a referential guide. As it has been shown that observers learn less than those on the "hot seat" and as time for training is limited and the number of trainees is huge, focusing on observers is important. By visually assessing the practice of others repeatedly during the course and comparing each performance to the reference (i.e. the observer tool), the learner may increase his engagement in the training process with an expected fin