Objectives Pit crew models are designed to improve teamwork in critical medical situations, like advanced life support (ALS). We investigated if a pit crew model training improves performance assessment and ALS skills retention when compared to standard ALS education.

Methods This was a prospective, blinded, randomized, and controlled, parallel-group trial. We recruited students to 4-person resuscitation teams. We video recorded simulated ALS-situations after the ALS education and after 6-month follow-up. We analyzed technical skills (TS) and non-technical skills (NTS) demonstrated in them with an instrument measuring TS and NTS, and used a linear mixed model to model the difference between the groups in the TS and NTS. Another linear model was used to explore the difference between the groups in hands-on ratio and hands-free time. The difference in the total assessment score was analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U-test. The primary outcome was the difference in the total assessment score between the groups at follow-up. ALS skills were considered to be a secondary outcome.

Results Twenty-six teams underwent randomization. Twenty-two teams received the allocated education. Fifteen teams were evaluated at 6-month follow-up: 7 in the intervention group and 8 in the control group. At 6-month follow-up, the median (Q(1)-Q(3)) total assessment score for the control group was 6.5 (6-8) and 7 (6.25-8) for the intervention group but the difference was not significant (U = 133, P = 0.373). The intervention group performed better in terms of chest compression quality (interaction term, beta 3 = 0.23; 95% confidence interval, 0.01-0.50; P = 0.043) at follow-up.

Conclusion We found no difference in overall performance between the study arms. However, trends indicate that the pit crew model may help to retain ALS skills in different areas like chest compression quality.