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Evaluating the Impact of Simulated Patients on Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes of Laypeople Following a Basic First Aid Course: Protocol for a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

Teaching first aid to laypeople is, according to the World Bank, a very cost-effective way to improve public health in low and middle income countries (Laxminarayan et al., 2006). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the global number of deaths due to injury was close to 5 million in 2015 (WHO, 2016). Not surprisingly, large efforts are being made to improve the layperson’s capacity to provide first aid and thereby increase a population’s resilience (He, Wynn, & Kendrick, 2014; Kleinman et al., 2018; Van de Velde et al., 2009). This is also true in developing regions, where access to professional healthcare is limited, and prehospital care by first responders may be even more important than in Background: Teaching first aid to laypeople is a cost-effective way to improve public health. However, it is currently unclear what the most effective ways are to teaching first aid. It has already been shown that simulated patients have an added value in teaching emergency care to healthcare professionals. This paper describes the protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial that will investigate the influence of using a simulated patient during basic first aid training for laypeople on their knowledge, skills and self-efficacy.