465 FO72 – Saving lives together in sport, part one: Initiating voluntary training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the use of automated external defibrillators in Norwegian football clubs

Background Early initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use by laypersons improve survival rate following exercise-related out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Sport clubs often fail to recruit athletes to professional CPR training courses stated to be time-consuming, expensive, and logistically challenging. Once learned, hands-on CPR training should be repeated regularly. Objective To test if a short non-professional practical approach to CPR training could engage more participants and facilitate regular refresher training in CPR. Design Prospective descriptive pilot study (2020–2023). Clubs signed contracts that they would perform CPR training with the use of AEDs for a minimum of 70% of all football players and coaches/staff/volunteers each year. The training was supervised by voluntary health care professionals. Setting Norwegian football clubs Participants Football players (age 12–19), coaches/staff/volunteers Interventions Clubs received two trainer AEDs, two CPR manikins, an e-learning and two short instructional videos. Clubs had to recruit volunteer resource persons to facilitate and supervise the CPR training sessions. A CPR station was set-up on the side of the pitch during football training. Players alternated 4 by 4 on the CPR station and spent 15 minutes hands on at the CPR station. Main Outcome Measures Number of participating clubs, CPR training sessions performed by football players and by coaches/staff/volunteers. We explored barriers and experiences by follow-up e-mails with clubs. Results We recruited 116 of 298 (39%) eligible football clubs. From 2020–2023, 5613 football players and 1468 coaches/staff/volunteers completed CPR training sessions. Barriers reported were problems recruiting volunteer CPR supervisors and frequent replacements of volunteers/staff in clubs with limited handover of information. Conclusions We recruited a satisfactory number of football clubs. A total of 5600 players completing CRP training over the 3-year period is much lower than expected, but the pandemic did not seem to be the most important barrier.