Evaluation of an Emergency Medicine Community Based Basic Emergency Intervention Educational Program

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of an emergency medicine community based basic emergency intervention educational program.

Methods: Emergency Medicine clinicians from our urban teaching medical center went into the community and in a 3 hour course educated the public on CPR, identification of choking and the Heimlich maneuver, stopping bleeding, heart attack and stroke risk factors, and AED usage. A self-administered 13 item survey to assess knowledge in these topics was completed by each participant at pre and post educational program. A point was given for every correct answer for a total score of 13 points.

Results: A total of 183 community members from 8 community settings completed the educational program. The median age was 47 years (14 to 85). The community members scored higher at the post test as compared to the pre-test (Median score of 12.0 vs. 9.0; P<.0001). Forty seven percent stated that prior to the educational program they had good to mastery level in basic emergency interventions and after the education program 86% stated that they feel a lot more prepared or feel confident in my skills to intervene and save lives in an emergency (P<.0001). Ninety seven percent stated that the educational program was very valuable and 100% would recommend this program to other community members.

Conclusion: There was an improvement in the community's knowledge and confidence. Departments of Emergency Medicine across the United States have the opportunity to outreach, educate, and improve the public's health and wellbeing.