Manikin study showed that counting inflation breaths out loud improved the speed of resuming chest compressions during two-person paediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Aim: We investigated whether counting inflation breaths out loud during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) led to an earlier resumption of chest compressions.

Methods: In this randomised controlled manikin simulation study, conducted from February 2015 to April 2015, 32 fourth-year Korean medical students, equally divided into study and control groups, performed 10 cycles of 15:2 CPR while administering inflation breaths using a bag mask. The first study participant counted the number of inflation breaths out loud, and the second study participant was told to perform chest compressions as soon as they heard their colleague say two. The control group did not count out loud. The groups were blinded to the study outcomes and put in separate rooms.

Results: The median chest compression interruption time was shorter in the study group than the control group (40 vs 46 seconds, p < 0.01, r = 0.70), and the median chest compression fraction (CCF) was higher (68 vs 62%, p < 0.01, r = 0.71). Other quality outcomes related chest compressions and ventilation did not differ between the groups.

Conclusion: Counting the number of inflation breaths out loud was a simple method that improved the speed of resuming chest compressions and increased CCFs in 15:2 CPR.