What should be included in the assessment of laypersons' paediatric basic life support skills?:Results from a Delphi consensus study

Abstract Background Assessment of laypersons’ Paediatric Basic Life Support (PBLS) skills is important to ensure acquisition of effective PBLS competencies. However limited evidence exists on which PBLS skills are essential for laypersons. The same challenges exist with respect to the assessment of foreign body airway obstruction management (FBAOM) skills. We aimed to establish international consensus on how to assess laypersons’ PBLS and FBAOM skills. Methods A Delphi consensus survey was conducted. Out of a total of 84 invited experts, 28 agreed to participate. During the first Delphi round experts suggested items to assess laypersons’ PBLS and FBAOM skills. In the second round, the suggested items received comments from and were rated by 26 experts (93%) on a 5-point scale (1 = not relevant to 5 = essential). Revised items were anonymously presented in a third round for comments and 23 (82%) experts completed a re-rating. Items with a score above 3 by more than 80% of the experts in the third round were included in an assessment instrument. Results In the first round, 19 and 15 items were identified to assess PBLS and FBAOM skills, respectively. The ratings and comments from the last two rounds resulted in nine and eight essential assessment items for PBLS and FBAOM skills, respectively. The PBLS items included: “Responsiveness”,” Call for help”, “Open airway”,” Check breathing”, “Rescue breaths”, “Compressions”, “Ventilations“, “Time factor” and “Use of AED”. The FBAOM items included: “Identify different stages of foreign body airway obstruction”, “Identify consciousness”, “Call for help”, “Back blows“, “Chest thrusts/abdominal thrusts according to age”, “Identify loss of consciousness and change to CPR”, “Assessment of breathing” and “Ventilation”. Discussion For assessment of laypersons some PBLS and FBAOM skills described in guidelines are more important than others. Four out of nine of PBLS skills focus on airway and breathing skills, supporting the major importance of these skills for laypersons’ resuscitation attempts. Conclusions International consensus on how to assess laypersons’ paediatric basic life support and foreign body airway obstruction management skills was established. The assessment of these skills may help to determine when laypersons have acquired competencies. Trial registration Not relevant

How parents express their worry in calls to a medical helpline:a mixed methods study

BACKGROUND: Telephone triage is used globally in out-of-hours primary care, to prioritize who needs urgent assessment. Even though children rarely are severely ill, calls about sick children are among the most prevalent, mainly due to parental worry. Pediatric calls are considered challenging, as the call-handler must rely on parents’ second-hand information. We aimed to investigate if parents’ worry can be used as a predictor of severe illness, and if the content of the calls varies between different grades of worry. METHODS: In a convergent mixed methods study design we asked patients to rate their degree-of-worry before talking to a call-handler. We used quantitative data of degree-of-worry, triage- and patient outcome in pediatric calls (n = 2857), and the qualitative content from 54 calls with subsequent hospitalization ≥24 h. RESULTS: High degree-of-worry was associated with hospitalization ≥24 h (OR 3.33, 95% CI 1.53–7.21). Qualitative findings both confirmed and expanded knowledge of degree-of-worry. Worry was the predominant cause for contact overall, and was mainly triggered by loss-of-control. In calls with high degree-of-worry, the prevalence of loss-of-control was especially high, and the parents had additionally often contacted healthcare services recently. Parents with a foreign accent often rated their worry as high, and these callers were often ignored or interrupted. Calls with low degree-of-worry seemed to occur early during the disease. CONCLUSION: High degree of parental worry was associated with severe illness. At the end of calls, call-handlers should ensure that the parent has regained control of the situation to reach increased reassurance and to prevent renewed unnecessary contact. Safety-netting is crucial, as many parents made contact early during the illness and deterioration may develop later. The scoring of parental degree-of-worry may be used as an indicator of potentially severe illness and can easily be implemented at out-of-hours call-centers globally. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Original study registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02979457)

“We can’t do without it”:Parent and call-handler experiences of video triage of children at a medical helpline

BACKGROUND: Pediatric out-of-hours calls are common, as parents worry and seek reassurance and shared responsibility. Nevertheless, most children assessed in this context are not seriously ill. Conventional telephone triage lacks visual cues and is further limited by third part communication in calls concerning children. We investigated implementation of video triage in two previous studies. The aim of the present study was to investigate 1) How video triage versus telephone triage in children was experienced by parents and call-handlers, and 2) call-handlers’ evaluation of the video triage projects. METHODS: We triangulated data from surveys and interviews in five sub-studies. Sub-study 1: Parents’ experience of video triage reported in closed-ended questionnaire items using quantitative analysis; Sub-study 2: Parents’ experience of video triage reported as questionnaire free-text using qualitative content analysis; Sub-study 3: Call-handlers’ experience of video triage reported in closed-ended questionnaire items using quantitative analysis; and Sub-studies 4 and 5: Individual interviews of call-handlers’ experience of 1) video triage using thematic analysis and 2) the video triage project using process evaluation. RESULTS: Most parents’ comments regarding video triage were positive (n = 164, 83%). Video triage was perceived as reassuring and reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings and unnecessary hospital visits. Call-handlers experienced that video triage improved patient assessment and caller reassurance. Some call-handlers complained that the time allocated for study participation was inadequate and requested a more accessible video set-up. Both parents and call-handlers were significantly more satisfied and reassured after video triage than after telephone triage and suggested video triage as a permanent option. CONCLUSION: Video triage was appreciated by parents and call-handlers and was recommended as a permanent option. The call-handlers suggested that designated time for participation in the studies would have been desirable in this busy call-center. We recommend video triage as a contemporary solution in out-of-hours service