Perception of simulation-based first-aid training by medical students: a qualitative descriptive study

Although first aid should be common knowledge for healthcare professionals, medical students still have gaps in this area. Simulation-based first-aid courses can overcome these shortcomings. To better understand the impact of these courses, they need to be researched both in terms of learning outcomes and overall participant perception. We conducted fifteen semi-structured interviews with students who completed the First-Aid Simulation Course or the Practical First-Aid Course. The questions focused on the perception of communication, emotional aspects, teamwork, debriefing and the overall administration of the courses. To find the answers to the research questions, we used the qualitative descriptive study design following the principles of inductive thematic analysis. Our findings confirm that many factors impact the performance of students in crisis situations during a simulation-based first-aid course. Four main themes were identified through which the participants perceived the simulation-based first-aid courses. These were team dynamics, fidelity perception, emotional strain and debriefing.