Watching a quick CPR training video could provide the necessary knowledge and motivation to save a life when someone collapses, a new study suggests.
Research presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association showed that in the case of someone collapsing, people who watched a simple one-minute CPR instruction video were quicker to start life-saving measures -- such as starting CPR and calling 9-1-1 -- than people who did not watch such a video.
For the study, nearly 100 study participants who had not received any CPR training over the last two years were recruited from a mall. About half of them watched the one-minute training video, while the other half just sat idle for a minute.
Then, the researchers presented a simulated emergency situation to the study participants, where a mannequin all of a sudden collapsed. They were asked to do "what they thought best."
Researchers found that those who watched the video had a faster response time to call 9-1-1, were quicker to start the compressions, had a faster chest compression rate, spent less time with their hands off the mannequin.
"Given the short length of training, these findings suggest that ultra-brief video training may have potential as a universal intervention for public venues to help bystander reaction and improve CPR skills," study researcher Dr. Ashish Panchal, M.D., Ph.D., of the The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said in a statement.