Bringing Home Baby – and a CPR Toolkit

When a high-risk infant or child leaves Packard Children’s, the family gets an extra something to take home: a cardiopulmonary resuscitation kit called CPR Anytime.

Packard Children’s is the first hospital to provide this toolkit as the standard method for teaching CPR to families of high-risk children at discharge. Designed for non-professionals, the self-paced kits are made up of a bilingual, interactive DVD and a manikin baby that clicks when CPR is applied properly.

“Parents love it because they can review and practice at their own pace, and nurses love it because it’s a more efficient way to teach important skills when a patient leaves the hospital,” says Lynda Knight, RN, life support and resuscitation educator at Packard Children’s. “Parents can show the kits to the babysitter, grandparents, and anyone else caring for their child; the more people know CPR, the better for everyone in the community.”

Since the program was launched in August 2010, more than 2,200 kits have been distributed. Knight’s studies have shown that, on average, six months after training parents had used the kits to teach CPR to at least three other family members or friends.

Packard is the only children’s hospital using this approach to CPR training, which is endorsed by the American Heart Association. Knight is getting the word out at national conferences and Webinars, and is working with other hospitals to help them launch a similar program.

“Packard Children’s is setting the precedent, and we are working to implement the CPR Anytime kits as the standard way of training high-risk families at all children’s hospitals,” she says. “Our goal is to make it the discharge policy at all pediatric hospitals in the country.”