Community volunteers and workplace instructors run thousands of CPR courses each year. While these sessions play a vital role in saving lives and improving cardiac arrest outcomes, significant gaps remain in paediatric CPR training. Many schemes still tend to adapt adult syllabuses, assuming the same techniques can be modified in application to CPR on children.
The differences are, however, greater than most learners realise, and the stakes are high. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OoHCAs) in children are thankfully rare, but survival to discharge with a positive neurological outcome still sits at around 20%. While this is an improvement from 7% over recent decades, it is still a figure that can be improved upon with proper training.
Every minute without effective chest compression boosts the chance of recovery, and ambulances in rural communities don’t always arrive quickly. This means that trained community responders are the bridge to professional care. It is, therefore, crucial to fully understand the gaps in paediatric CPR training and explore how they might be overcome.
Limited Child-Specific Content
As experienced trainers will know, when conducting CPR on children, compression depth and airway positioning differ greatly from adult practice. Learners who have only been exposed to generic CPR training risk pressing too hard or too shallow, for example. Dedicated child modules that have been reinforced with age-appropriate manikins and scenario cards need an equal timetable rate if the gaps in paediatric CPR outcomes are going to be improved.
As a result, low-dose, high-frequency training is becoming the preferred approach. Short, regular refreshers help to embed muscle memory and improve confidence under pressure.
Skill Retention
Memory studies show lay rescuers forget steps within months. Adult refreshers are increasingly common, something we have covered in a previous article, but top-up practice for paediatric CPR lags behind. Quarterly micro-drills, app-based quizzes, and video reminders are a few helpful ways to reinforce sequence, ratios, and pad placement, which can protect competence between annual certificates.
Recommendations suggest retraining within a year, and preferably every six months, to maintain both knowledge and muscle memory competence.
Tools that offer real-time feedback are also key. Devices that track compression depth, ventilation, and rate help trainees correct mistakes instantly. This leads to better skill development and retention.
Training capacity can sometimes be an obstacle to this.
To that end, having tools like Brayden Online and intuitive manikins with LED blood flow displays helps educators increase their capacity. Objective, clear feedback can be accessed instantly either by the trainer or the learner, which also makes self-directed learning more accessible and effective.
Emotional Barriers
Delivering CPR on children can, for many, trigger a very real fear of doing harm. Many sessions teach the mechanics of resuscitation, but they rarely tackle the emotions involved in the process. Facilitated discussion, peer stories, and debriefing exercises are strong ways to prepare rescuers to push past the shock of conducting paediatric CPR.
Realistic Equipment
One-size torsos foster adult muscle memory. Affordable infant and junior manikins exist, but budgets often prioritise adult stock, which leaves learners and trainers without the necessary equipment. Without tactile feedback matched to a child’s chest, learner confidence dips in real emergencies. Conversion kits that adapt existing manikins offer a cost-effective fix and preserve valuable storage space while adding visual realism.
Early Recognition
Airway blockage is a leading cause of paediatric arrest, even exceeding cardiac origins. Despite this, many programmes separate choking relief from CPR training. Combing back blows, thrusts, and transitioning into compressions clarifies the continuum from obstruction to arrest and reduces session length without sacrificing clarity.
Digital and Blended Learning
Pandemic-era platforms proved that parents and bystanders are willing to log on for bite-size lessons. Unfortunately, most online libraries focus on adult victims, leaving a significant gap in the accessibility of paediatric CPR training. Interactive modules specifically designed for CPR on children with progress tracking, objective feedback, and push-notification reminders can help to extend reach and support spaced repetition without extra venue costs.
These have to work alongside practical training.
While online theoretical training is better than no training at all, it is most effective when paired with accessible and realistic practical training. To that end, it’s crucial that training sessions for paediatric CPR are kept as inclusive as possible.
Evening workshops can clash with family routines, and car-free parents may struggle to reach certain locations. Innovative solutions like running pop-up stands and weekend events or in easily accessible places like sports clubs, shopping centres, and schools lower barriers and keep attendance high.
Paediatric AED Awareness
Despite the growing density of public defibrillators, many cabinets are locked or lack clearly labelled child pads. Courses often mention paediatric settings in passing but might not let participants handle the equipment or fully familiarise themselves with it. Encouraging learners to use AED training devices on realistic paediatric CPR manikins can start to break down these barriers and give bystanders the confidence to carry out holistic CPR and defibrillation.
Evening workshops can clash with family routines, and car-free parents may struggle to reach certain locations. Innovative solutions like running pop-up stands and weekend events, or in easily accessible places like sports clubs, shopping centres, and schools, lower barriers and keep attendance high.
Looking to Close the Gaps in Paediatric CPR Training?
Community training schemes face real challenges in delivering accurate, engaging, and accessible paediatric CPR training, which is why we have developed a practical solution. The award-winning Brayden Junior conversion kit transforms any adult Brayden manikin into a realistic 10–12-year-old torso, complete with reduced chest resistance and accurate LED feedback that shows how blood flow would flow to the brain and heart during effective and Guidelines-compliant compressions.
Trainers can deliver hands-on training without the cost or storage burden of separate child manikins. When paired with Brayden Online, performance data is recorded and tracked to support ongoing skill development. It’s a smarter, more accessible way to deliver high-quality CPR training in every setting. To find out more about how our solutions can help you, feel free to get in touch with our team.
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