COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A new research paper has concluded that 'Nellie The Elephant' should no longer be used to teach lay people how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) correctly.

The research document, titled "Effect of listening to 'Nellie The Elephant' during CPR training on performance of chest compressions by lay people: randomised crossover trial", was published in the British Medical Journal.

The stated objective of researchers was "to determine whether listening to music during CPR training increases the proportion of lay people delivering chest compressions of 100 per minute".

For the study, volunteers' repeated compressions on a resuscitation manikin were measured as they listened to no music, repeated choruses of 'Nellie the Elephant' and 'That's the Way (I Like It)' in a pre-randomised order.

Researchers concluded: "Listening to 'Nellie the Elephant' significantly increased the proportion of lay people delivering compression rates at close to 100 per minute.

"Unfortunately, it also increased the proportion of compressions delivered at an inadequate depth.

"As current resuscitation guidelines give equal emphasis to correct rate and depth, listening to 'Nellie The Elephant' as a learning aid during CPR training should be discontinued."