Introduction
In the UK fewer than 1 in 10 people survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest. The most effective methods of improving survival are early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation (1), both of which can be delivered by bystanders. CPR education has been added to the national curriculum in English schools from September 2020, but little is known about the effectiveness of one-off CPR education sessions in this setting.
Methods
We delivered a one-hour practical CPR teaching session to 108 11-12-year-old students across 5 sessions at a single school. A quiz on CPR theory was then completed by the students four weeks after they had completed the practical session to test their knowledge and understanding. This included questions about the ‘DR ABC” (danger, response, airway, breathing, circulation) acronym that is taught on many CPR or first aid courses in the UK. 
Results
We received 86 partially or fully completed forms (80% response rate). 70% of students were able to correctly identify the indications for starting CPR. When identifying the words in the DR ABC acronym, 13% of students incorrectly identified ‘A’ as being ‘Assistance’ or ‘Ask for help’. Only 7% of students were able to correctly identify the rate at which chest compressions should be performed. Most students were able to correctly name at least one situation where it was suitable to stop performing CPR.
Conclusions
We were pleased that a significant number of students were able to identify the indications for starting CPR. Formal assessment of the airway has been de-emphasised in CPR training and in CPR-AED guidelines. Therefore, we propose that key stakeholders change the way the ‘DR ABC’ acronym is taught, so that ‘A’ stands for ‘Ask for Help’. Teaching that the correct CPR rate should be taught to bystanders and ‘two per second’ may also be easier to process and retain for those who will not regularly practice this skill. We plan future work where we will assess the impact of these proposed changes on knowledge and skills retention following CPR sessions in schools.

7 - Assessing Retention of Knowledge Following One-Off CPR Education Sessions in Schools