Evidence and evaluation from the RMD UK network — near-peer BLS education, instructor development, and outcomes.
Research across the network
Research is carried out across different RMD UK sites. Some of the original key research into near-peer BLS teaching and assessment in UK Higher Education Institutions originated at RMD Birmingham, and work continues across the network into the pedagogy and technique of BLS training. This spans papers, reviews, and presentations, supported by regular cross-site meetings.
Publications & projects
RMD Birmingham's publication record runs to over twenty peer-reviewed papers since 1995, alongside dozens of conference presentations. Five stand out for their influence on how near-peer BLS teaching is understood and practised across UK Higher Education Institutions:
Basic life support training for health care students ↗
Perkins GD, Hulme J, Shore HR, Bion JF. Resuscitation. 1999;41(1):19–23.
Why it matters: The founding paper. It documents the original University of Birmingham programme handing BLS teaching to trained undergraduate peers — the empirical starting point for the near-peer model that RMD sites now run nationally.
Peer-led resuscitation training for healthcare students: a randomised controlled study ↗
Perkins GD, Hulme J, Bion JF. Intensive Care Med. 2002;28(6):698–700.
Why it matters: The randomised controlled trial that gave the model its evidence base — showing peer-led BLS teaching performs at least as well as tutor-led teaching. This is the result that made handing BLS instruction to students defensible, not just convenient.
Harvey PR, Higenbottam CV, Owen A, Hulme J, Bion JF. Resuscitation. 2012;83(7):894–899.
Why it matters: A fifteen-year synthesis of running the programme at scale — the most complete account of how a near-peer BLS scheme actually operates over time. It's the reference point other UK HEIs draw on when setting up or evaluating their own near-peer courses.
Baldi E, Savastano S, Contri E, Lockey A, Conaghan P, Hulme J, et al. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2020;37(10):839–841.
Why it matters: A policy-level guidance note co-authored with the European Resuscitation Council, mandating CPR competencies for undergraduate healthcare students across Europe. It marks the model's evidence base moving from a single UK institution to shaping continental curriculum policy.
Skill decay following Basic Life Support training: a systematic review protocol ↗
Stanley B, Burton T, Percival H, Beesley E, Coffin N, Hulme J, Owen A, Alderman J. BMJ Open. 2021;11(12):e051959.
Why it matters: Current, methodologically rigorous work tackling the field's open question — how quickly BLS skills decay after training, and what that means for refresher scheduling. It keeps RMD active at the research frontier rather than resting on its founding studies.
Further publications
Seventeen more peer-reviewed papers make up the rest of the publication history, covering CPR technique, breathing recognition, instructor feedback methods, and guideline-change evaluations.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation training
Perkins GD, Hulme J, Shore HR, Bion JF. J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1999;33(2):193.
Variability in the assessment of advanced life support skills
Perkins GD, Hulme J, Tweed MJ. Resuscitation. 2001;50(3):281–6.
Use of advanced life support skills
Hulme J, Perkins G, Baldock C, MacNamara A. Resuscitation. 2003;58(1):59–63.
A comparison between over-the-head and standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Perkins GD, Stephenson BT, Smith CM, Gao F. Resuscitation. 2004;61:155–61.
Birmingham assessment of breathing study (BABS)
Perkins GD, Stephenson B, Hulme J, Monsieurs KG. Resuscitation. 2005;64(1):109–13.
Effects of a backboard, bed height, and operator position on compression depth during simulated resuscitation
Perkins GD, Smith CM, Augre C, Allan M, Rogers H, Stephenson B, Thickett DR. Intensive Care Med. 2006;32:1632–5.
Teaching recognition of agonal breathing improves accuracy of diagnosing cardiac arrest
Perkins GD, Walker G, Christensen K, Hulme J, Monsieurs KG. Resuscitation. 2006;70(3):432–7.
An evaluation of objective feedback in basic life support (BLS) training
Spooner BB, Fallaha JF, Kocierz L, Smith CM, Smith SC, Perkins GD. Resuscitation. 2007;73:417–24.
Comparison of the errors in basic life support performance after training using the 2000 and 2005 ERC guidelines
Owen A, Kocierz L, Aggarwal N, Hulme J. Resuscitation. 2010;81(6):766–8.
A randomised control trial comparing two techniques for locating chest compression hand position in adult Basic Life Support
Owen A, Harvey P, Kocierz L, Lewis A, Walters J, Hulme J. Resuscitation. 2011;82(7):944–6.
Comparison of the quality of basic life support provided by rescuers trained using the 2005 or 2010 ERC guidelines
Jones CM, Owen A, Thorne CJ, Hulme J. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2012;20:53.
Effect of a rescuer's side of approach on their performance of conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Jones CM, Thorne CJ, Hulme J. Resuscitation. 2012;83(12):e235.
An analysis of the introduction and efficacy of a novel training programme for ERC basic life support assessors
Thorne CJ, Jones CM, Harvey P, Hulme J, Owen A. Resuscitation. 2013;84(4):526–9.
Rescuers may vary their side of approach to a casualty without impact on cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance
Jones CM, Thorne CJ, Colter PS, Macrae A, Brown GA, Hulme J. Emerg Med J. 2013;30(1):74–5.
Rescuer fatigue under the 2010 ERC guidelines, and its effect on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performance
McDonald CH, Heggie J, Jones CM, Thorne CJ, Hulme J. Emerg Med J. 2013;30(8):623–7.
Structured training in assessment increases confidence amongst basic life support instructors
Thorne CJ, Jones CM, Coffin NJ, Hulme J, Owen A. Resuscitation. 2015;93:58–62.
Use of the learning conversation improves instructor confidence in life support training
Baldwin LJ, Jones CM, Hulme J, Owen A. Resuscitation. 2015;96:199–207.
Conference presentations
RMD has presented at national and international conferences continuously since 2000, across CPR technique, instructor and assessor training, network expansion, and equity in training. A selection spanning that range:
A systematic analysis of common errors in basic life support
Resuscitation 2004 — Budapest, Hungary · Focus: CPR technique & error analysis
An analysis of the introduction and efficacy of a novel training programme for ERC basic life support assessors
Resuscitation 2012 — Vienna, Austria · Focus: assessor & instructor development
Training the next generation: a feasibility study establishing a region-wide sustainable near-peer life support training scheme targeted at secondary school students in the UK
Resuscitation 2014 — Bilbao, Spain · Focus: outreach & widening participation
Wheel-and-spoke expansion of peer-led resuscitation training in UK medical schools: a national model for delivering undergraduate healthcare student basic life support training
Intensive Care Society State of the Art 2019 — Birmingham · Focus: national network expansion
Basic Life Support training amid the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives from the UK's largest ERC course
ESICM LIVES Digital 2020 · Focus: training resilience & adaptation
RMD Birmingham: Peer-Led Feedback and Recruitment in the Formation of Professional Identity
Education for Healthcare Professionals (E4HP) Conference, May 2025 — University of Birmingham · Focus: pedagogy & professional identity
Closing the Gender Gap in BLS Education: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of the Impact of Breasted Manikins on BLS Performance and Confidence
Royal College of Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting (RCEM26), April 2026 — ICC Birmingham · Focus: equity & inclusion in training
Ongoing work
Projects to be added.
Describe active research, data collection, or evaluation work currently in progress across sites.
Get involved
Research collaboration — on near-peer teaching, BLS outcomes, or instructor development — grows naturally out of the network. When you become an RMD UK site, we look forward to future collaborations.