Abstract
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of two BLS teaching methods, for laypersons, observing the difference of the information the retention rate in the short and medium term. Methods: It is a cohort study with 28 public high school students in the city of Manaus, divided into two groups: Group A (theoretical training) and Group B (theoretical-practical training). The sampling was non-probabilistic and the training was carried out with the aid of specific teaching materials and application of a pre-test, post-test immediately after training and post-test after three months. In the analysis of statistics, the data distributed was through means, standard deviation and relative value. To compare the performance averages of both groups, the t-Student test was used, adopting a significance level of 5% (p <0.05). Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the performance of the two groups at the three assessment times. The short-term retention rate was considered excellent for both groups. In the medium term (three months) the decline in retention of theoretical content was evident, even though the performance was considered reasonable. Conclusion: We conclude that training at regular intervals is necessary for the lay population and that this training should be started in high school.