CPR and Agonal Breathing Recognition Training for Police Officers

Overview

This study will evaluate an educational training program for police officers in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Police officers may arrive at out-of-hospital cardiac arrest events before emergency medical services and may be able to provide early cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator support. However, abnormal gasping or agonal breathing can be mistaken for normal breathing and may delay recognition of cardiac arrest. Participants will receive a single training session consisting of an adult CPR refresher course and agonal breathing recognition training. Anonymous online questionnaires will be completed before and immediately after the training. The study will compare pre-training and post-training questionnaire results to assess changes in agonal breathing recognition accuracy, CPR-related knowledge, and course satisfaction.

This is a single-arm, before-and-after educational intervention study conducted among active police officers in New Taipei City, Taiwan. The study is embedded in routine annual first aid training for police officers. The intervention consists of a single training session. The first component is a 20-minute adult CPR refresher course covering the emergency response sequence, chest compression quality, compression depth and rate, and complications of chest compression. The second component is a 40-minute agonal breathing recognition session covering the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of agonal breathing, video-based recognition practice using real cases, and analysis of common recognition errors. Before the training session, study information is provided and participants are invited to complete an anonymous online pre-training questionnaire using a QR code. Immediately after the training session, participants are invited to complete an anonymous online post-training questionnaire using a QR code. Questionnaire data will be used to evaluate changes in agonal breathing recognition accuracy, CPR-related knowledge, and overall learning outcomes. Course satisfaction will be assessed using the post-training questionnaire. Participation is voluntary. The study collects anonymous questionnaire responses and does not involve patient-level clinical data or direct patient intervention. There is no long-term participant follow-up.