# Developing and evaluating a brief, socially primed video intervention to enable bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A randomised control trial

## TL;DR

A short CPR training video with empowering language was tested and found to improve chest compression performance and feelings of social support during resuscitation simulations.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel ultra-brief CPR video intervention using social priming to enhance bystander CPR readiness and performance.

## Key findings

- Participants who viewed the ultra-brief CPR video spent significantly more time performing chest compressions during simulation.
- The ultra-brief video group reported stronger feelings of expected emergency support from others compared to the long-form group.
- Both CPR video interventions resulted in clinically acceptable compression rates, though the long-form group had a higher average rate.

## Abstract

Over 30,000 people experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the United Kingdom annually, with only 7–8% of patients surviving. One of the most effective methods of improving survival outcomes is bystander intervention in the form of calling the emergency services and initiating chest compressions. Additionally, the public must feel empowered to act and use this knowledge in an emergency. This study aimed to evaluate an ultra-brief CPR familiarisation video that uses empowering social priming language to frame CPR as a norm in Scotland.

In a randomised control trial, participants (n = 86) were assigned to view an ultra-brief CPR video intervention or a traditional long-form CPR video intervention. Following completion of a pre-intervention questionnaire examining demographic variables and prior CPR knowledge, participants completed an emergency services-led resuscitation simulation in a portable simulation suite using a CPR manikin that measures resuscitation quality. Participants then completed questionnaires examining social identity and attitudes towards performing CPR.

During the simulated resuscitation, the ultra-brief intervention group’s cumulative time spent performing chest compressions was significantly higher than that observed in the long-form intervention group. The long-form intervention group’s average compressions per minute rate was significantly higher than the ultra-brief intervention group, however both scores fell within a clinically acceptable range. No other differences were observed in CPR quality. Regarding the social identity measures, participants in the ultra-brief condition had greater feelings of expected emergency support from other Scottish people when compared to long-form intervention participants. There were no significant group differences in attitudes towards performing CPR.

Socially primed, ultra-brief CPR interventions hold promise as a method of equipping the public with basic resuscitation skills and empowering the viewer to intervene in an emergency. These interventions may be an effective avenue for equipping at-risk groups with resuscitation skills and for supplementing traditional resuscitation training.