Resuscitation Council breathes new life into e-learning

Transcription

1 Resuscitation Council breathes new life into e-learning The Resuscitation Council and partner Unit 9 amazed everyone with their LIFESAVER project. Not only a gamechanger but a life-changer, it s no wonder that this team were the first to pick up five awards in one evening. This case study explains how the LIFESAVER project was not so much commissioned but born in response to an obvious need in society how to help the public over come bystander paralysis and deliver effective CPR, and save lives! Breathing new life into e-learning The Resuscitation Council and partner Unit 9 took our breath away at this year s awards with their LIFESAVER project. It was the first programme to pick up five awards in one evening, all awarded by different review panels. In a year when the standard of entries across the board had risen dramatically, this was no mean feat. So what was it about the project that caught the collective imaginations of this year s judges? An estimated 60,000 people each year in the UK have an out of hospital cardiac arrest. If a bystander is able to start CPR they double the person s chances of survival, but all too often, a bystander doesn t have the knowledge or confidence to help. As a result, the survival rate for out of hospital cardiac arrests is only 10%. The Lifesaver programme can help change this situation by providing participants with the confidence and knowledge to intervene in an emergency. From inception to execution, this learning programme stands out from the crowd and has lessons to teach us all. Turning an idea into reality The initial idea occurred to Martin Percy, one of the directors of Unit 9, in conversation with the ambulance drivers who operated from a station opposite the production company s office. He found out about a significant issue that could result in life or death for any one of us bystander paralysis! The ambulance staff told him how traditional first aid courses didn t help many who attend a course, who often forget what they learned after six months or a year.

2 Even though these courses were equipping attendees to deal with life or death situations, the ambulance drivers were concerned as they tended to be delivered in a very relaxed way. In real life when faced with having to respond urgently to a traumatic situation, the bystander may know what to do because they are paralysed by fear. Martin Percy, a three-time Webby winner and five-time BAFTA/EMMY nominee, felt that with his background he and his organisation could do something about the bystander issue. Unit 9 is a multidisciplinary production company, normally working projects linked to commercial advertising, entertainment and branding. Their aim is to always seeking a new approach to promote new products and to win hearts and minds of individuals; so why not apply their creative knowledge and expertise to a programme that has the potential of literally saving lives? The programme idea wasn t commissioned; it was born in response to an obvious need in society. To turn the idea into a reality, the programme needed to be funded and the Unit 9 team applied for a grant from the Technology Strategy Board, the UK s innovation agency, and actively sought a partner who shared their goals. The Resuscitation Council (UK) was a perfect partner a medical charity that produces the official UK guidelines for CPR that are followed by the NHS and all the first aid charities. Dr Jasmeet Soar, Vice Chairman of the Resuscitation Council (UK), comments on the Council s aims for Lifesaver: Lifesaver provides a great opportunity to guide the public through the simple but vital steps of performing CPR to encourage them to step-in if they witness someone having a cardiac arrest and, potentially, help save a life. The interactive video format of Lifesaver is a game changer for how people learn CPR. The vivid reality of the scenarios is compelling and will encourage more people to learn CPR, and help save lives. Dr Jasmeet Soar, Vice Chairman of the Resuscitation Council (UK), comments on the Council s aims for Lifesaver: Lifesaver provides a great opportunity to guide the public through the simple but vital steps of performing CPR to encourage them to step-in if they witness someone having a cardiac arrest and, potentially, help save a life. The interactive video format of Lifesaver is a game changer for how people learn CPR. The vivid reality of the scenarios is compelling and will encourage more people to learn CPR, and help save lives.

3 Designing for impact Once the funding was in place, the design of the programme could begin in earnest. Given that the aim of the programme was to address the bystander issue, a programme had to be created that would help individuals overcome their paralysing fear. To do this it needed to be as realistic as possible. It had to be immersive, gritty and powerful, putting participants in a situation where they felt afraid and knew what it was like to have their adrenalin rushing through them by being exposed to people literally dying in front of them. The result was LIFESAVER. Lifesaver is a crisis simulator, fusing interactivity with live action film to teach CPR in a new way. LIFESAVER is a live action movie that is played like a game. However, by playing it, it shows participants how to save someone s life. LIFESAVER consists of three interactive films with 50 decision making steps interspersed with a number of mini games where CPR is performed. It throws participants into the heart of the action and their responses change what happens. The video clips show real people in real places but participants learn by doing do it wrong and they see the consequences, do it right and they get the thrill of saving someone s life! Production principles Unit 9 applied some useful production principles to the development of the programme. At the heart of its success was a good director who knew how to write script and create a compelling story. They also leveraged a great design team who were able to follow the directions from the director and also propose new approaches and options for tackling the subject. Consistency was an important principle as was the focus on creating a good user experience. It was critical that an individual found a potentially complex scenario simple to navigate. It was also important that they could go through the experience and never get lost. In this programme choosing the right actors, crew members, and shooting in a range of different locations all added to the authenticity of the experience. Immersive experience across platforms LIFESAVER is designed to work on a computer, smartphone or tablet. On the computer, the participant performs CPR by using keyboard stokes in the appropriate time and rhythm to keep the suffering character alive.

4 However, the programme also makes the most of the mobile technology in the participant s hand on the app version, participants move the device up and down two times a second to do CPR on the victim in the field. Do it wrong and they die! The difference between real life is that the process can be repeated over and over again until it is mastered. The motion sensors in smartphones and tablets are also used to effect when teaching other procedures. When someone is choking you can move your device sharply down to hit them on the back! The power of Storytelling The programme provides expert opinion and advice but also brings it alive with real life accounts. In one video scenario a woman whose husband had a cardiac arrest provided her story. Her husband passed away as she was unable to save his life, but her solace came from the fact that she knew how to perform CPR and felt that she had given every possible chance of survival. Another case study showed a couple talking together about how the wife had saved her husband s by applying her skills. Keeping it Fun The programme is also designed to be fun and provides an entertainment dimension through serious gaming elements that makes participants want to continue and go further. If participants get some of their choices wrong they just try again. Get enough wrong and they get a messages saying game over and the person they were trying to save dies. At this point they are taken back to an earlier point in the programme to try again. These fun elements ensure that participants are motivated and scores are monitored and reflected at the end. During CPR performance if the participant answers right the first time three times in a row they get bonuses. Energy levels are maintained throughout by putting time pressure on participants to react quickly and accurately.

5 Does it work? Initial tests of the programme were conducted at South Bristol Community Hospital, which ran an open day. 200 visitors with different ages and backgrounds used the programme. 40% of the visitors had previous resuscitation training but the rest hadn t received any formal training. Before they started the programme confidence ratings of the visitors were 3.7 on a scale of After the programme confidence levels had risen to 7.4. All respondents replied that they were more or much more likely to attempt resuscitation in a real life emergency after using the app.

6 The programme aim was to be sticky and the developers found that 1 in 8 were spending 25 minutes or more on the site and completing all three modules. 1 in 4 were spending at least 12 minutes on site and completing at least one module, and at the time of print they were averaging 80+downloads a day. Dr Jasmeet Soar from the Resuscitation Council (UK) concludes, It has been tremendous for the Resuscitation Council to work with UNIT9 to arrive at an Application that is so effective. We are hopeful that others will see the benefit in promoting Lifesaver within their own organisations and networks to encourage people to perform CPR. To launch the initiative, the developers contacted industry magazines and mainstream press. Social media was also harnessed with many medical practitioners taking to twitter to sing it s praises. Moving forward they intend to use Google analytics to track uptake. Try it for yourself It is rare that one of the award winning programmes is freely available for everyone one to try and we d recommend that you do as it might help you to save a life. Just log onto or download the app onto your IOS or android mobile. This programme also has lessons to teach us on how to breathe new life into our every day experiences of e-learning (see box out for ideas). You don t need a massive budget to take a fresh look at how to approach behaviour change. This programme shows that harnessing the power of a story and then leveraging the capability of the technology to immersive users in that story in creative ways are critical. It also shows that having a vision about the impact you can make from the very beginning is a powerful motivator for tackling an older issue in a new way. LIFESAVER shows us that when it comes to great learning design, we can t afford to get bystander paralysis use their success to build your own skills and confidence and give it a go! Developed as part of the Towards Maturity Good practice partnership with elearning age. Article written by Laura Overton, Towards Maturity, as part of the e-learning age and Towards Maturity Good practice partnership. Follow Laura on

7 Tips from LIFESAVER to help you breathe new life into your e-learning projects. Develop a passion for change be inspired by the challenges of your stakeholders Talk to them first to understand the problem Learn from other disciplines such as advertising to help you become a great storyteller Look at how the technology can be used in new ways to connect involve your users in your story Identify new roles that might be needed on your team director, creative designer, UX and allow each to contribute Ask meaningful questions in your pilot stage that will not only inform design but generate feedback that help to engage others Consider all the communication routes available to you to ensure that everyone knows what your programme can do for them Encourage influencers and specialists in your stakeholder community to share their views on your programme using social media