CPR by Trained Responders vs Lay Persons study

I belong to a few instructor forums. Yesterday this study was posted for the group:

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation by Trained Responders Versus Lay Persons and Outcomes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Community Observational Study.

The premise of the study was to determine if CPR outcomes were better when CPR was provided by laypersons or trained responders.

No surprise that the cardiac arrest victims treated by trained responders had a greater chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest.

I only read the summary of the study, but questions I had were … were the trained responders EMT’s or where they a workplace safety team who had taken a basic CPR AED course? Did the laypersons have any CPR AED training at all or relying on 911 phone instruction? There are a lot of variables I could not find answers to since I don’t have a subscription to read the full study text.

The abstract also indicated that the majority of cases in the study were treated by lay responders. We’re not always near trained responders if we have a medical emergency.

If someone collapsed near you … would you know what to do?

I don’t expect everyone who takes a class from me remember everything a year or so later. But when coupled with emergency medical dispatch instructions from 911, I think the hands-on learned skills can make a difference.