The impact of kids save lives program on knowledge of students after the first and second year of implementation in Thessaly region of greece

Type of funding sources: None.

Sudden cardiac death is one of the main issues worldwide, with more than 700.000 deaths annually. It is strongly believed that the implementation of "Kids Save Lives" project in schools can change this situation. The World Health Organization endorsed the ‘Kids Save Lives’ project in 2015 in order to reduce mortality, while in countries, where children were taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in schools, have higher rates of bystander CPR and higher survival rates. In Greece, this project is a suggestion from  Ministry of Education  to schools.

Τo evaluate the level of theoretical knowledge of secondary school students on the subject of Basic life Support before and after a "Kids Save Lives" program and to compare the results after the first and second year of implementation.

Material – Method: Data collection took place on the academic periods of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 and was performed in secondary schools. A total of 691 students participated on the "Kids save Lives" program in both academic periods according to the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) and World Health Organization (WHO) statement. A 12-point questionnaire was answered by the students before and after the "kids saves lives" program. The same program was performed one year later and the same questionnaire was given to students in order to fill it again before and just after the course

The training improves significantly the theoretical knowledge regarding Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), with the percentage of correct answers being 48,4% and 82,8%,before and after the first year course respectively (p < 0.001). One year later, students retain a big part of their knowledge before the course (64,1% correct answers), and also improve their performance (87,5% correct answers, p < 0,001) after the course.

The overall results strongly depict the benefits of "Kids Save Lives" program by improving the theoretical knowledge. The course should performed for at least 2 years in order to attain optimal results of theoretical knowledge. Further research is needed to identify the times a student must follow the program to maximize its effectiveness