Recruiting medical, dental, and biomedical students as first responders in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic : prospective follow-up study

Article Article scientifique Article Recruiting medical, dental, and biomedical students as first responders in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic : prospective follow-up study eng 2025-04-24 2025-04-24 author Schnetzler Nicolas David Paul 0000-0003-0993-5091 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311. 906689 author Taramarcaz Victor Celestin 0000-0002-6325-6551 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311. 852305 author Herren Tara Michèle Céline 0000-0001-9277-0093 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311. 858705 author Golay Eric 0000-0002-7348-470X Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311. 884093 author Regard Simon 0000-0002-3979-7593 Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311.,Cantonal Physician Division, Cantonal Health Office, State of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 558033 author Mach François 0000-0003-3178-9131 Cardiology Department, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. 27365 Département de médecine (DEMED) author Nasution Amanta Sjakti 0000-0002-2947-7908 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311. 879003 Structure enseignement (ENSI) author Larribau Robert Michel P. D. 0000-0002-5200-4199 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311. 91013 Département d'anesthésiologie, pharmacologie et soins intensifs (APSIC) author Suppan Mélanie 0000-0002-8807-9619 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Anaesthesiology, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. 526789 Département d'anesthésiologie, pharmacologie et soins intensifs (APSIC) author Schiffer Eduardo 0000-0002-7415-4315 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Anaesthesiology, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.,Unit of Development and Research in Medical Education (UDREM), Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. 33705 Département d'anesthésiologie, pharmacologie et soins intensifs (APSIC) author Suppan Laurent 0000-0001-6989-6421 Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Acute Care Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 2, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland, 41 223723311. 505697 Département d'anesthésiologie, pharmacologie et soins intensifs (APSIC) 2e63018 10.2196/63018 40273383 2369-3762 PMC12068746 https://mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e63018 Background: Basic life support improves survival prognosis after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but is too rarely provided before the arrival of professional rescue services. First responder networks have been developed in many regions of the world to decrease the delay between collapse and initiation of resuscitation maneuvers. Their efficiency depends on the number of first responders available and many networks lack potential rescuers. Medical, dental, and biomedical students represent an almost untapped source of potential first responders, and a first study, carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the recruitment of many of these future professionals even though many restrictions were still in effect. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the impact of an enhanced strategy on the recruitment of medical, dental, and biomedical students as first responders in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a prospective follow-up study, conducted between November 2021 and March 2022 at the University of Geneva Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland. A web-based study platform was used to manage consent, registrations, and certificates. A first motivational intervention was held early in the academic year and targeted all first-year medical, dental, and biomedical students. Participants first answered a questionnaire designed to assess their initial basic life support knowledge before following an e-learning module. Those who completed the module were able to register for a face-to-face training session held by senior medical students. A course certificate was awarded to those who completed these sessions, enabling them to register as first responders on the Save a Life first responder network. Since the number of students who had enlisted as first responders 2 months after the motivational intervention was markedly lower than expected, a second, unplanned motivational intervention was held in an attempt to recruit more students. Results: Out of a total of 674 first-year students, 19 (2.5%) students had registered as first responders after the first motivational intervention. This was significantly less than the proportion achieved through the initial study (48/529, 9.1%; P<.001). The second motivational intervention led to the enrollment of 7 more students (26/674, 3.9%), a figure still significantly lower than that of the original study (P<.001). At the end of the study, 76 (11.3%) students had been awarded a certificate of competence. Conclusions: Contrary to expectations, an earlier presentation during the academic year outside the COVID restriction period did not increase the recruitment of medical, dental, and biomedical students as first responders in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reasons underlying this drop in motivation should be explored to enable the design of focused motivational interventions. COVID-19 Basic life support Biomedical students Blended learning Cardiopulmonary resuscitation Dental students E-learning First responder Life support Medical student Motivational interventions Motivational strategies Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Pandemic Student motivation Survival prognosis Undergraduate medical education Dewey 610/370 Dewey 616 Dewey 617 63 Département d'anesthésiologie, pharmacologie, soins intensifs et urgences 229 56 Département de médecine 221 48 Unité de développement et de recherche en éducation médicale 204 false 325 Athérosclérose 591 JMIR medical education 11 57047da7-4fc1-4749-a3b6-ec740c6d67cb Article (Published version) Public mededu-2025-1-e63018.pdf 608853 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 aa84514e1f423c012ed364a7e08dbe197822e744ce0bf4e09d9773a6ecd6046b c9011968-489b-49b5-9b3c-c062b943a545 Supplemental data Public mededu_v11i1e63018_app1.docx 15397 application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document 84877d67a9988b340839e627ee8c6b75ae1b26c9503431da92ac1c472c866fcf 160b9f69-04f0-4f6b-aa22-f1ac6147043e Supplemental data Public mededu_v11i1e63018_app2.png 25259 image/png e7cd67b0b03d353c9e81f79c3691cc7e0fe96e40b274f3f123b14399ee371d07 openAccess Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département d'anesthésiologie, pharmacologie, soins intensifs et urgences Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de médecine Faculté de médecine / Unité de développement et de recherche en éducation médicale

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Recruiting medical, dental, and biomedical students as first responders in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic : prospective follow-up study	JMIR medical education			2025	69	180

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