CPR manikins

Feedback or not — the question that decides the rest

Manikins with measurement. The Laerdal QCPR manikins record compression depth, rate, how well the chest is allowed to recoil between compressions and the volume of the rescue breaths. The result is shown in the Laerdal app or on a SimPad, and the participant sees their own curve in real time. That changes the teaching: the instructor no longer has to judge depth by eye and can instead point to what actually happened.

Manikins with mechanical feedback. The Prestan manikins click audibly when a compression reaches sufficient depth, and the Ultralite and Pro+ also have a light that shows green when the rate is between 100–120 compressions per minute and red when it is too slow or too fast. No app, no connection, no charging — which is precisely the point for many instructors.

Manikins without feedback. Mini Anne and Mini Baby are inflatable and intended for large groups where every participant is to have their own manikin in their hands throughout the session, or take it home. They measure nothing, and that is the right trade-off when the alternative is five people sharing one advanced manikin.

Adult, child and infant

Compression depth, hand position and ventilation volume differ between the age groups, and an adult manikin does not teach paediatric CPR. We stock the full range: Little Anne, Resusci Anne and Prestan Professional for adults, Little Junior and Prestan Professional Junior for children, plus Little Baby QCPR, Baby Anne and Prestan Professional Baby for infants. Little Family QCPR and the Prestan collection packs cover all three age groups in a single purchase.

Alongside the standard range there is Choking Charlie for airway obstruction, a female training torso from Prestan and CasPeR the CPR dog for CPR on dogs.

Light and dark skin tone

Both Laerdal and Prestan supply their manikins in light and dark skin tone, and Prestan also sells diversity kits where a four-pack contains both. That matters in a training group: a set in which every manikin looks the same says something that was never intended.

The consumables are the real cost

A manikin lasts for many years. What runs out is the consumables, and here the makes differ:

• Laerdal uses single-use airways that are threaded through the manikin — one per participant, then discarded. We stock them in 24-packs and 96-packs, together with faces and lungs.
• Prestan is built around a combined face and lung bag plus a face shield, which are changed between participants. Lung bags and shields come in 50-packs.

Work out the running cost before you choose a make, not after. Spare heads, skins, chest plates and clickers are available for Prestan; faces, jaws and airway models for Laerdal.

If you are going to practise the whole chain of survival you will also need an AED trainer and training electrodes. See also course materials and training products.

Contact us or request a quotation for equipment for a training organisation.